Columbia reaches $395k settlement with student over 'chemical attack' from counterprotest
Columbia University recently settled a lawsuit with a Jewish student, paying him $395,000 after a suspension for using a 'chemical attack' during a student protest.
The 'chemical' that was used turned out to be a novelty 'fart spray,' which is non-toxic and caused no lasting damage.
Columbia University recently settled a lawsuit with a Jewish student, paying him $395,000 after a suspension for using a “fart spray” during a student protest.
In January, pro-Palestine students at Columbia claimed that Israeli counterprotesters conducted a “chemical attack” during a pro-Palestine rally, as reported by The Times of Israel.
However, the “chemical” that was used turned out to be a novelty “fart spray,” which is non-toxic and caused no lasting damage, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“By late February, the University had learned that the incident was not a ‘chemical attack’ but rather a non-toxic spray,” the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s recent anti-Semitism report states. “While this conduct was inappropriate and a violation of University rules meriting discipline, it was also clearly a far less serious incident than characterized by anti-Israel activists or to the public.”
The report found that the incident was used to “vilify” Israeli students at the school, and that the university administration decided to suspend “each of the two Jewish students responsible for the incident for a year-and-a-half, substantially longer than any suspension for antisemitic conduct violations.”
“Columbia only corrected the record on the spray incident after reportedly reaching a $395,000 settlement with one of the students responsible for the incident,” the report concluded.
A new pro-Palestine student group, the Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition (CPSC), was recently created at the university.
“The Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition is a collective of Palestinian student organizers who wish to reclaim the pro-Palestinian student movement and recenter Palestine at Columbia University,” members of the group stated in their announcement of the organization in October.
On Oct. 23, 25 state attorneys general co-signed an open letter to the Columbia administration urging that it reject students’ calls for divestment from companies that have financial connections to Israel.
“As the Attorneys General of South Carolina and Arkansas, we are joined by the Attorneys General of the 23 undersigned states to raise grave concerns about antisemitism on the campus of Columbia University, and to encourage your administration to hold the line against demands to divest from Israel,” the letter read.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
