(PrimeChronicle.org) – In a viral video taken at Case Western Reserve University, campus police stood by and watched as anti-Israel protesters were sprayed with white paint. The campus agitators positioned themselves against a wall that had been vandalized that morning.
One wall was reportedly painted with antisemitic rhetoric. Campus authorities deemed the graffiti offensive and inappropriate and ordered that it be painted over. When the third-party contractor arrived, he found multiple students lined up with their backs against the wall. One anti-Israel protester described the graffiti as “beautiful pro-Palestine art.”
The contractor set up his paint sprayer and began spraying white paint over the wall. The campus police warned the protesters that if they stand in front of an active paint spray gun they will get paint on them. The anti-Israel actors were allowed time to don plastic face shields to protect their eyes, nose, and mouth from the paint spray.
Anti-Israel protesters are no strangers to getting sprayed, on April 25th, Florida State University activated lawn sprinklers to disperse a group of nearly 50 protesters. One agitator used a chair to block one sprinkler. In response, FSU activist, Oliver Cheese, dubbed the university’s actions as repressive and “insane.”
When asked why they did not intervene, one seemingly exasperated officer replied “We’re just here.” The officers explained that they had given the protesters ample warning and that the protesters were free to move out of the way. The protesters had not glued or otherwise affixed themselves to the wall.
In response to the video, CWRU president Eric Kaler said that he felt the graffiti was inappropriate and offensive, but also said that the students should not have been sprayed with paint. At the end of the video, someone can be heard saying, “Don’t touch them,” potentially an officer commanding a protester not to physically intervene with the painter. Kaler has opened an investigation into the actions of the officers as well as the contracted painter.
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