U.C.L.A. Police Make First Arrest in Attack on Protest Encampment

More than three weeks after counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, the university police made the first arrest related to the attack: an 18-year-old who officers said had beaten pro-Palestinian protesters with a wooden pole.

The U.C.L.A. police did not identify the man by name, but arrest records show that he is Edan On. He is facing one charge of felony assault with a deadly weapon.

Mr. On’s mother told CNN last week that he was a high school senior with plans to join the Israeli military.

In videos of the April 30 attack on the encampment, a man in a light-colored hoodie and a white mask is seen swinging a pole at several protesters. His mother told CNN that the man seen in those videos was her son, though she later told the network that he had denied being there.

Mr. On was arrested on Thursday morning at a business in Beverly Hills, the police said. Jail records show that bail was set at $30,000.

The U.C.L.A. Police Department has been under intense pressure to identify and charge counterprotesters involved in the April 30 attack, which the police allowed to continue for several hours without intervening.

The next night, U.C.L.A. called in officers from the city police force and other agencies to assist in clearing the encampment. More than 200 encampment protesters who refused to leave were arrested.

The chief of the U.C.L.A. Police Department has been temporarily removed from his post in the wake of the episode, and the university is investigating the response to the April 30 attack.

U.C.L.A.’s chancellor, Gene Block, testified before a congressional committee on Thursday about how he had handled the student protests on campus. During that hearing, he faced intense questioning from Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, who asked him why none of the counterprotesters involved in the April 30 attack had been arrested.

“Are any of these people in jail?” she asked.

Jail records indicate that Mr. On was arrested during Dr. Block’s testimony, but his arrest was not publicly disclosed until Friday.

Jonathan Wolfe contributed reporting from Los Angeles. Alain Delaquérière contributed research.