'Racist' actions from counterprotesters at Ole Miss prompt investigation
The University of Mississippi has opened an investigation into one student’s conduct at a May 2 counterprotest surrounding a pro-Palestinian demonstration after administrators were made aware of “offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable” actions “that conveyed hostility and racist overtones,” according to school officials.
In a letter to students on May 3, Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce said school officials are working to determine whether further investigations are warranted.
“As a public institution, we are committed to supporting the rights of our students, faculty, and employees to express their views in a respectful manner and to assemble peacefully as guaranteed by the First Amendment,” said Boyce in the May 3 email, which school officials shared with ABC News. “However, some individuals at the demonstration acted in ways that conflict with our university’s values. Behaviors and comments that demean people because of their race or ethnicity marginalize them and undermine the values that are fundamental to a civil and safe society.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold signs protesting the Israel-Hamas war in addition to calling on the University of Mississippi to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza, May 2, 2024, in Oxford, Miss.
The dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters had gathered on the campus to call for the university to divest of any investments that might benefit Israeli military operations in Gaza. They are also calling for the university to condemn what they call “genocide” against Palestinians amid Israel’s war in Gaza, which began on Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, and Israel retaliated with its ongoing military operations in Gaza.
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Since Oct. 7, Israeli forces have killed at least 34,183 people in Gaza and injured 77,143 others, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. At least 1,700 people have been killed and 8,700 others injured in Israel by Hamas or other Palestinian militants, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Mississippi said in a statement that they were subject to racism, violent threats, and having food thrown at them by counterprotesters, some of whom allegedly said, “here’s your humanitarian aid.”
In one video, a Black protester can be seen recording and speaking to counterprotesters while outside of the protective barricades surrounding the pro-Palestinian protesters.
Law enforcement officers can be seen urging her to walk back inside the barricades as counterprotestors taunt her, including one student apparently impersonating a monkey and others chanting “lock her up,” according to student Stacey Spiehler, who took the video.
Law enforcement also urged the counterprotesters to step back from the barricades.
A neutral campus organizer, center, tries to direct a pro-Palestinian demonstrator away from being so close to a group of counter-protesters at the University of Mississippi, May 2, 2024, in Oxford, Miss.
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Phi Delta Theta fraternity general headquarters also released an online statement, saying it is aware of the video and has rescinded the fraternity membership of one individual connected to “the racist actions in the video.”
In a statement following the confrontations, protesters said they were met with “blind reactionism that had little to do with the genocide we were protesting as well as our demands.”
ABC News’ Chris Looft contributed to this report.