{"id":2223319,"date":"2024-04-17T14:36:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T18:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/columbia-students-claimed-they-were-sprayed-with-an-israeli-chemical-weapon-it-was-actually-fart-spray-purchased-on-amazon-new-lawsuit-says\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T14:39:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T18:39:32","slug":"columbia-students-claimed-they-were-sprayed-with-an-israeli-chemical-weapon-it-was-actually-fart-spray-purchased-on-amazon-new-lawsuit-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/columbia-students-claimed-they-were-sprayed-with-an-israeli-chemical-weapon-it-was-actually-fart-spray-purchased-on-amazon-new-lawsuit-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbia students mistakenly believed they were exposed to an Israeli chemical weapon, which turned out to be fart spray bought on Amazon, according to a new lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">54<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcolumbia-students-claimed-they-were-sprayed-with-an-israeli-chemical-weapon-it-was-actually-fart-spray-purchased-on-amazon-new-lawsuit-says%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2223319&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University alleged exposure to an\u200b Israeli chemical weapon, &#8220;skunk,&#8221; during a \u200brally, leading to a \u200cmedia frenzy. Subsequently, it was revealed that the substance \u200dwas a harmless\u2062 fart\u2062 spray. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-jamaal-bowman-pleads-guilty-in-fire-alarm-incident\/\" title=\"Rep. Jamaal Bowman Admits Guilt in Fire Alarm Incident\">incident sparked controversy<\/a> and legal action, unfolding\u200c amidst tensions related to \u2064anti-Semitic incidents and protests on campus. The incident at Columbia University, where \u200cpro-Palestinian\u200d protesters \u200dclaimed exposure to an Israeli chemical weapon but later discovered it was\u200b a harmless fart spray, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ny-orders-teachers-to-begin-keeping-big-secret-from-parents\/\" title=\"NY mandates teachers to withhold crucial information from parents.\">generated significant controversy<\/a> and legal repercussions. This event occurred against a backdrop of tensions surrounding \u2063anti-Semitic incidents and protests \u200don\u200d the\u2063 campus.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Chemical weapons are typically associated with Middle Eastern warzones, not Ivy League colleges. So when one of them was allegedly deployed at Columbia University, it ignited a media frenzy.<\/p>\n<p>Pro-Palestinian protesters told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.columbiaspectator.com\/news\/2024\/01\/22\/protesters-allegedly-sprayed-with-hazardous-chemical-at-pro-palestinian-rally-nearly-two-dozen-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the <em>Columbia Spectator<\/em><\/a>  they had been sprayed with &#8220;skunk,&#8221; a crowd-control chemical developed by the Israeli Defense Forces, at a rally in January. Mainstream media <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation\/2024\/01\/23\/columbia-university-protest-attack\/72325189007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">amplified<\/a> the allegations, and Columbia suspended a student involved in the &#8220;attack&#8221;\u2014who had previously served in IDF\u2014within days.<\/p>\n<p>The narrative was a progressive fever dream: At one of the best universities in the country, an Israeli student had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-u-s-would-respond-if-putin-uses-chemical-weapons\/\" title=\"Biden: U.S. \u2018Would Respond\u2019 If Putin Uses Chemical Weapons\">deployed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">chemical weapons<\/a><\/a> against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hundreds-of-yale-law-students-disrupt-bipartisan-free-speech-event\/\" title=\"Hundreds of Yale Law Students Disrupt Bipartisan Free Speech Event\">peaceful student protesters<\/a> for challenging the alleged depredations of the Jewish state.<\/p>\n<p>Columbia president Minouche Shafik repeated this claim at a meeting of the university\u2019s senate. &#8220;Demonstrators,&#8221; she said, &#8220;were sprayed with a toxic chemical.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It now appears that the &#8220;toxic chemical&#8221; was a harmless fart spray purchased on Amazon for $26.11.<\/p>\n<p>According to a lawsuit filed against Columbia on Tuesday, the suspended student had in fact dispersed &#8220;Liquid Ass&#8221;\u2014a &#8220;gag gift for &#8220;adults and kids,&#8221; per its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Liquid-Ass-Mister\/dp\/B000OCEWGW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">product description<\/a>\u2014at an unsanctioned pro-Palestinian rally. He sprayed the substance in the air, not at any particular individual, in what the lawsuit describes as a &#8220;harmless expression of speech.&#8221; The result was a swift suspension for which the student is now suing, alleging that the university &#8220;rushed to silence Plaintiff and brand him as a criminal&#8221; through &#8220;biased misconduct proceedings.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Columbia claimed in January that the incident was &#8220;possibly [a] hate crime.&#8221; Tuesday\u2019s lawsuit undercut that claim and the media narrative built around it less than 24 hours before Shafik was set to testify before Congress about Columbia\u2019s response to anti-Semitism, which surged at Columbia after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n<p>The university has seen a raft of protests\u2014many of them held in violation of university rules\u2014where students promoted the attacks and chanted slogans like &#8220;Intifida&#8221; and &#8220;glory to our martyrs.&#8221; One unsanctioned event, &#8220;Resistance 101,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/at-columbia-an-israeli-designated-terror-group-teaches-palestinian-resistance-101-and-lauds-plane-hijackings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span>featured<\/span><\/a>  speakers from Israeli-designated terror groups and praise for plane hijackings, which Khaled Barakat, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, described as an &#8220;important tactic&#8221; of the &#8220;Palestinian resistance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Four students were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/columbia-suspends-students-for-resistance-101-event-at-which-speakers-praised-hamas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">suspended<\/a> over the event, video of which was <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/columbia-palestinian-resistance-event-violates-youtube-policy-against-promotion-of-terrorism-video-platform-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">removed<\/a> from Youtube for violating the platform\u2019s anti-terrorism rules. One student, Aidan Parisi, <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/columbia-student-suspended-over-resistance-101-event-refuses-to-leave-campus-calls-for-intifada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">refused to leave<\/a> campus, barricading himself in his dorm and pledging to resist the suspension &#8220;just as the Palestinians have resisted occupation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>His punishment was irregular: For the most part Columbia has not disciplined students who\u2019ve held unsanctioned protests, including one in November that <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/columbia-administrators-stand-by-as-anti-israel-protesters-overrun-law-school-and-disrupt-classes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disrupted<\/a> law school classes for nearly three hours. Administrators refused to shut down the protest because, as one of them put it, doing so could make pro-Palestinian students feel &#8220;unsafe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit alleges that Columbia failed to protect the plaintiff from anti-Semitic harassment as he underwent a rigged disciplinary process that presumed him &#8220;guilty from the start&#8221; because of his affiliation with Israel. Non-Israeli students at the rally &#8220;were not disciplined in any manner,&#8221; the complaint states, even though the university hadn\u2019t approved the event.<\/p>\n<p>Columbia declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>This is the second time this year Columbia has been sued for anti-Semitic discrimination. In February the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standwithus.com\/post\/federal-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-columbia-university-alleges-hostile-antisemitic-environment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> against Columbia and Barnard alleging that Jewish students had been &#8220;assaulted, spit on, threatened, and treated unequally,&#8221; in part due to the schools\u2019 failure to enforce their own policies.<\/p>\n<p>Similar complaints have been filed against <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/middlebury-students-tried-to-host-a-vigil-for-victims-of-oct-7-attack-administrators-told-them-to-remove-the-word-jewish\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Middlebury<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/mit-antisemitism-lawsuit-d53c39d623fe961abc724ebd4fc3127e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MIT<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/11\/us\/harvard-antisemitism-lawsuit.html#:~:text=A%20group%20of%20students%2C%20citing,their%20courses%2C%20among%20other%20claims.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harvard University<\/a>, both in federal court and with the U.S Department of Education\u2019s Office of Civil Rights. The lawfare comes as a Congressional committee is holding hearings on anti-Semitism and pressing schools to provide documentation of their response to it\u2014an effort that helped end the careers of two former Ivy League presidents, Claudine Gay of Harvard and Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, who resigned following their poor performance at the first of those hearings.\t<\/p>\n<p>At the hearing with Shafik, Democratic lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HMHsFWAbiBA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grilled Columbia\u2019s president<\/a> about the alleged &#8220;chemical attack.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It appears to have been an odorous substance that was sprayed on demonstrators,&#8221; Shafik said in response to a question from Jamal Bowman (D., N.Y.). &#8220;The individuals involved have been suspended from Columbia.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The claim of a chemical weapon incident at Columbia University sparked a media storm as pro-Palestinian protesters reported being sprayed with &#8220;skunk,&#8221; an Israeli Defense Forces crowd-control chemical during a January rally. This unusual event at an Ivy League institution diverted attention to the misuse of such substances in unlikely settings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":184,"featured_media":2223320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/student-palestinian-group-holds-rally-at-columbia-university.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2223319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/student-palestinian-group-holds-rally-at-columbia-university.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/184"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2223319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2223320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2223319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2223319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2223319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}