This post was updated Aug. 12 at 6:43 p.m.
UCPD arrested a man who allegedly stole posters of prominent Black figures from Haines Hall while carrying multiple weapons, including a stun gun, on campus Saturday.
Brian Royal-Rubin, 37, was charged Tuesday with felony burglary, the violation of civil rights, the possession of a weapon at a university and a hate crime enhancement Jeffrey Chobanian, the acting captain of the UCPD administrative and operations bureau, said in an emailed statement.
Royal-Rubin also faces misdemeanor charges for the possession of a stun gun on campus and the unauthorized possession of keys to a public building.
UCLA Policy 131 prohibits items including stun guns and certain types of knives from being brought onto campus without prior permission from UCPD.
Posters and bulletin boards outside UCLA’s ethnic studies centers, many of which have offices in Haines Hall, have been the target of over a dozen vandalism incidents since April this year. Incidents included the destruction or removal of flyers, placards and posters.
[Related: UCLA ethnic studies centers’ posters, bulletin boards targeted with vandalism]
UCPD officers who were patrolling Haines Hall on Saturday noticed that a group of posters outside the Bunche Center for African American Studies Library and Media Center had disappeared, Chobanian said in a statement Sunday. Chobanian added that officers allegedly then found Royal-Rubin inside of the building carrying the posters, as well as a knife with a three-inch blade.
It is currently unknown if Royal-Rubin is a UCLA affiliate, Chobanian added.
He was originally arrested for allegedly possessing stolen property, burglary tools and a stun gun on campus – along with the unauthorized possession of a university key to a public building.
“Since February 2025, UCLA Police have investigated about 20 reports of flyers and name placards being removed from Haines Hall and nearby buildings,” Chobanian said. “Anyone with information about these incidents is encouraged to contact the UCLA Police Department Detectives at 310-825-9371.”
