The police chief for the University of California at Los Angeles has been removed from his post three weeks after campus officials came under fire for their handling of a violent, overnight mob attack on pro-Palestinian activists encamped at UCLA, Reuters reports.

John Thomas, who was formally named head of the UCLA police force in January after a year as interim chief, has been “reassigned temporarily, pending an examination of our security processes,” Vice Chancellor Mary Osako said in a statement on Wednesday.

Campus police Captain Gawin Gibson was named UCLA’s acting chief of police effective on Tuesday, Osako said.

Thomas and other university officials, as well as the Los Angeles Police Department, drew sharp criticism for their response to violence that flared at UCLA between pro-Palestinian activists and a group who attacked them late on the night of April 30.

The masked assailants, later described by university officials as “instigators,” stormed the tent camp with clubs and poles. A pitched skirmish ensued, with both sides trading blows and dousing each other with pepper spray. The encampment occupants said fireworks were also hurled at them.