The protest marked the first protests of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in Mississippi since students at Columbia University set up an encampment in protest of their school’s funding of Israel.
As previously reported by BLACK ENTERPRISE, Chancellor Glen Boyce, who oversees the University of Mississippi (commonly referred to as Ole Miss), expressed his intention to initiate an investigation into the behavior of students during a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus. Despite endorsements from Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves and Rep. Mike Collins for the actions of counter-protesters, Boyce proceeded with the investigation.
As Mississippi Today reports, the protest marked the first protests of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in Mississippi since students at Columbia University set up an encampment in protest of their school’s funding of Israel. Initially, the pro-Palestine protest was separated from the hecklers by metal barricades, but the counter protestors found a way around the barricades. Eventually food was being tossed across the barricades and the university police force attempted to de-escalate the situation by escorting pro-Palestinian protestors away from the crowd of counter protestors that had gathered.