Authored by Adam Sabes via Campus Reform,
The University of Southern California dropped an investigation spurred by student complaints against a Jewish professor who said “Hamas are murderers” during class.
Economics Professor John Strauss on Nov. 9 told pro-Palestinian activists while walking past them that “Hamas are murderers…That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are killed.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, video of the exchange went viral on social media and over 10 students filed complaints against Strauss, who’s Jewish.
They accused him of harassment, discrimination, and fostering an unsafe environment.
Strauss was quickly placed under an investigation, which ended on Tuesday when administrators told the professor that the investigation is being dismissed with no discipline.
Samantha Harris, his attorney, said she’s “frustrated that it took seven months to reach an obvious conclusion.”
Amr Shabaik, legal director of CAIR-LA, who assisted some of the students with their complaints, told the outlet that he’s disappointed that the complaints were dismissed.
On Nov. 20, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a letter to USC, calling for the investigation to be dropped.
FIRE Program Officer Jessie Appleby said Strauss’s speech was “clearly protected.”
”We’re thrilled that the complaints against Professor Strauss were finally dismissed and he has been cleared of any misconduct. But USC’s actions—barring a professor from campus and subjecting him to a 7-month investigation for clearly protected political speech—clearly violated its express commitment to protect faculty speech,” Appleby said.