UCSB Employee Allegedly Incites Antisemitic Mob Against Jewish Student President in Federal Lawsuit

By Alex Johnson | Thursday, 11 December 2025 05:56 PM EST

A federal lawsuit filed Thursday accuses a University of California, Santa Barbara employee of allegedly disguising themselves in a mask to inflame a hostile mob of anti-Israel demonstrators against Jewish student leader Tessa Veksler.

The complaint states that the university repeatedly ignored pleas for protection as harassment escalated over months during the 2023–24 academic year. Veksler, a 23-year-old Manhattan resident who recently graduated with degrees in political science and communications, became the target of an antisemitic campaign after publicly condemning the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis.

According to the lawsuit, tensions peaked in February 2024 when Veksler, then serving as student body president, approached a large group of masked anti-Israel protesters to diffuse tensions. “She believed she was making progress until a UCSB representative — defendant Doe 1, and also wearing a mask — joined the meeting and began harassing Tessa and purposefully inciting the crowd’s antisemitic animus toward Tessa,” the filing stated.

The staff member allegedly disrupted Veksler, encouraged the demonstrators, and contributed directly to the crowd’s aggression. This incident was part of a sustained pattern of hostility Veksler describes, which university officials failed to address meaningfully. The harassment began immediately after she criticized Hamas’ attack, which also led to the kidnapping of 250 people and sparked the ongoing Gaza conflict.

Her social media posts condemning the massacre prompted accusations that she supported genocide, according to the suit. Posters appeared across campus labeling her a “Zionist” and demanding her resignation, with some plastered near the university’s Multicultural Center — an area Veksler frequently used. Messages included: “AS president is racist Zionist,” “Get these Zionists out of office,” and a warning: “You can run but you can’t hide Tessa Veksler.” One flyer even displayed her personal phone number, and students called her a “Zionist dog.”

The complaint further alleges that the university’s official Multicultural Center Instagram account posted an image of one of the hostile flyers. All threats and harassment occurred under the watchful eye of UCSB administrators, but the university did nothing despite its anti-discrimination policies and Veksler’s repeated requests for help. The school essentially “abandoned Tessa to the antisemitic mob, discarded its own written policy intended to prevent that harassment, and allowed an insidious injustice to continue unabated,” the lawsuit states.

UCSB issued a statement on February 26, 2024, condemning harassment related to Middle East tensions but did not mention Veksler by name. By then, the sustained threats had taken a severe psychological toll, leading to panic attacks and post-traumatic stress. During final exams, Veksler avoided campus entirely. She is now seeking unspecified damages from UCSB and 20 university staff members, alleging violations of her civil rights and a failure to protect her safety and freedom of speech.