Columbia bans those who allegedly sprayed chemicals at protesters

(NewsNation) — The “alleged perpetrators” who reportedly sprayed a hazardous chemical during a pro-Palestine protest Friday at Columbia University have been banned from campus, a statement by the interim provost said.

No arrests have been made yet, though, the New York Police Department told NewsNation Tuesday.

Interim Provost Dennis Mitchell said the NYPD is taking the lead role in investigating “what appear to have been serious crimes, possibly hate crimes.”

After receiving additional information Sunday night, Mitchell said, the “alleged perpetrators” of the chemical attack who were identified to the university were immediately banned from campus.

He did not elaborate on what this additional information is nor who the alleged perpetrators are. A Columbia spokesperson said the university would not be commenting beyond what was in Mitchell’s statement.

Nearly two dozen students who spoke to The Columbia Spectator, which was the first outlet to report the story, described a “foul smell” and physical symptoms after the protest Friday, with some saying the substance used was skunk spray.

Skunk spray, according to the BBC, was invented by Israeli firm Odortec and is supplied to the United States by Mistral Security. It has been used by the Israel Defense Forces against demonstrators in the occupied West Bank since 2008, with Palestinians who’ve been hit describing the smell as “worse than raw sewage” and like a mixture of “excrement, noxious gas and a decomposing donkey.”

On Saturday, one victim filed a report in which she stated to police that others in attendance at the protest told her an “unknown substance” was sprayed into the air, the NYPD said. She smelled an odor, police said in an email, and began to feel nauseated and a “burning sensation in her eyes.”

Five more police reports were filed Sunday.

Eight students were hospitalized, and dozens more have sought “urgent medical attention,” Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace’s Columbia chapter, which were both suspended from campus last year, said in a joint statement.

“We continue to urge those who have relevant information — including pictures, videos, and clothing — to share that with the Department of Public Safety and NYPD. We are grateful to the members of our community who have done so already,” Mitchell wrote. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms any threats or acts of violence directed toward anyone in our community. The University is committed to taking urgent action with the appropriate authorities in any such cases.”

Columbia SJP and JVP said they hope that Columbia’s investigation of the attack means the administration will take steps toward accountability.

“This hateful assault came after months of Columbia viciously targeting and repressing Palestinian student advocacy, contributing to a hostile environment that dangerously emboldens violent attacks like these during a time when violent hate crimes against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Americans are surging,” their statement said. “The administration must repair the damage it has done.”

Experts have said anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Jewish attacks have gone up to record levels ever since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people and took 250 hostage in Israel. More than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, with Israeli bombardment in the area causing widespread death and destruction and displacing an estimated 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.