Khymani James, a Columbia University student who had emerged as one of the leaders of the anti-Israel protests on campus, has been placed on “interim suspension.”
James, 20, was placed under suspension, according to the New York Times, citing a notification the student received from the school that was shared with the outlet. During this interim suspension, the school will decide if he will be allowed to return to class, or officially expelled. He was previously banned from campus on Friday after video of him redoubling his comment that “Zionists don’t deserve to live” resurfaced.
The video, which James had shared in January, was of himself on a disciplinary hearing with school officials where he was questioned about comments on social media that he made threatening Zionists, who are supporters of the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel.
“Zionists in my DMs wanting to meet up and fight,” James wrote. “I don’t fight to injure or for there to be a winner or loser. I fight to kill. See y’all in New York in January 2024.”
During the hearing, James redoubled his comments when administrators pressed him on if he felt regret over what he said. He told officials that “in certain case scenarios,” taking someone’s life is “better for the overall world.”
He apologized for the comments on Friday in a lengthy statement posted to X, and said he did not want to be a “distraction from the movement of Palestine liberation.”
“I also want people to have more context for my words, which I regret,” James said. “Far right agitators went through months of my social media feed until they found a clip that they edited without context.”
“When I recorded it, I had been unusually upset after an online mob targeted me because I am visibly black and Queer,” he added.
The university condemned James’s comments on Friday, saying that any calls for violence or targeting like this were against school policy.
“I want to make clear that calls of violence and statements targeted at individuals based on their religious, ethnic or national identity are unacceptable and violate university policy,” a university spokesperson said last week.
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The encampment protests at Columbia University have been ongoing for weeks and have yet to disperse, despite an order from officials to vacate the encampment by 2 p.m. Monday. Protesters took over a building on campus in the early hours on Tuesday, and the university announced its Morningside Campus will have restricted access.
University protests against Israel in recent weeks, including at Columbia, have called on the institutions to divest from companies that do business with Israel.