This post was updated Oct. 23 at 12:03 a.m.
UCPD police officers detained a person with spray paint cans outside Royce Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
Around 12:35 p.m., the officers handcuffed someone wearing a red dress. Applying paint to campus buildings or outdoor structures is prohibited under university Time, Place and Manner policies.
The Daily Bruin was able to identify graffiti outside the Anderson School of Management reading “Spiro Gas Chamber” around 2 p.m. In an emailed statement, UCPD Lieutenant Jeff Chobanian said the police department believes the graffiti was related to the detention, but they are not currently treating the incident as a hate crime.
Although Dickson Plaza had previously hosted a press conference about protest rights from the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union at 10:30 a.m., the Daily Bruin was unable to confirm whether the individual detained was a protester.
In an emailed statement, Chobanian said officers detained the person with the spray paint, who initially tried to flee. He added that he did not know whether the person who had the spray paint assaulted anyone.
“Multiple reports came into UCPD about a suspect spray-painting property and possibly a member of the UCLA community,” Chobanian said in the statement. “Officers quickly responded and observed the suspect in Royce Quad carrying spray paint.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Contributing reports by Sam Mulick and Gabrielle Gillette, Daily Bruin staff.
