We had this story in the headlines yesterday but there’s a lot more to it, including the deceitful way in which some people, including Shaun King, presented an edited video of the professor to mischaracterize what he said.

The incident itself happened earlier this month on the USC campus. Professor John Strauss is an economics professors who studies developing countries. On Nov. 9 he walked from his office to his class and passed a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the center of campus.

He told The Times that he heard slogans such as “Destroy Israel” and calls for the U.S. to revoke funding for Israel. (Students dispute that “destroy Israel” was ever uttered at the demonstration.)

“That’s what I heard and I got angry,” said Strauss, who has worked at USC since 2004 and has tenure. “I am Jewish and very pro-Israel, so I shouted, ‘Israel forever. Hamas are murderers.’”

About two hours later, after teaching his class on economics in Africa, professor Strauss walked back to his office. He once again passing the pro-Palestinian protest. This time the students lashed out at him and he responded.

Strauss continued, rounding the corner toward USC’s bookstore when witnesses say at least one student yelled out, “Professor Strauss, shame on you.”

Clad in cargo pants and a plaid-green dress shirt, he said he bellowed, “No, shame on you.”…

That was the moment when Strauss uttered the words that precipitated the uproar: Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are killed.

“I got that on video. Thank you!” a student says.

Students immediately filed multiple formal complaints against Strauss claiming they’d been threatened. In response the school initially told him he’d been placed on administrative leave and then changed course and said he would continue to teach his classes remotely but was not allowed on campus.

More than a dozen students and faculty filed complaints with the university about Strauss’s comment. Some protesters said they felt threatened, while one student organizer said the comment was hate speech. He “threatened us as students,” she claimed to USC Annenberg Media, “making us feel unsafe in our academic environment.”

On Nov. 10, USC issued a brief statement that it was aware of the video on social media and was looking into the situation. But that same day Strauss received a call from the associate dean of the college, who told him the provost had placed him on paid administrative leave for the rest of the semester.

Initially, the associate dean told Strauss he would only be able to teach his doctoral-level course remotely while on leave, but not his undergraduate course. By Monday, the university backtracked, allowing him to teach both courses remotely. On Tuesday, Nov. 14, the university told the student newspaper Strauss was not on administrative leave but would be teaching his courses remotely for the remainder of the semester.

Students also weaponized the video of Strauss, editing it down to a few seconds and cutting out his clear reference to Hamas. Here’s what the edited clip shared by many looked like.

here is @USC professor John Strauss saying “every one of them should be killed, and I hope they all are” while passing by students who organised a memorial for 10,000+ Palestinian martyrs killed in the past month pic.twitter.com/Iuox2laMKL

— tara (@taraxrh) November 10, 2023

And here’s the full clip in which it’s clear he’s talking about Hamas.

.@USC is forcing tenured Prof John Strauss to teach his classes remotely for the rest of the semester after a doctored video circulated that made it seem like he had wished death on all Palestinians. In actuality, Strauss said, “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. Every one… pic.twitter.com/Lru9CpAUKw

— Canary Mission (@canarymission) November 22, 2023

There was also a petition launched by students which also intentionally misconstrued his words:

As members of the University of Southern California (USC) community, we are deeply disturbed and appalled by the actions and remarks made by tenured Economics Professor John Strauss who also served as Director of Graduate Studies in the Economics Department.

His racist, xenophobic behavior, including stepping on names during a memorial service at USC for over 10k innocent civilians that lost their lives in Palestine, is unacceptable. His remarks – “everyone should be killed, and I hope they all are” – are not only offensive but also promote and incite violence.

That petition has about 7,100 signatures but there is now a banner over the page which reads, “We have received flags from our users that the facts in this petition may be contested. You should consider researching this issue before signing.” In other words, this petition is based on a lie. There is even a video on the page from someone pointing out that Strauss’s remarks referred to Hamas.

Meanwhile a counter-petition was also started in support of professor Strauss. This one points out what actually happened and who helped spread the misleading claims. This petition already has 12,500 signatures.

Influencer @ShaunKing (5+ million followers), in a joint Instagram post with @CravingPalestine, falsely claimed in the caption of their video, “USC Professor John Strauss threatened these students’ hope you get killed, and I hope they all are (*Gaza)’ during a campus rally for Gaza. We call on USC to terminate this professor immediately.” This deceptive video has now gone viral, amassing over 3 million views.

Much of the videos and images from the incident are laden with text that further distorts what actually occurred. Examples from various social media accounts, both influential and regular, claim that Professor Strauss said, ‘All Palestinians Should Be Killed’ (source Instagram: @TrojansForPalestine) and ‘Professor at UCS [sic] Wants all Palestinians to be Killed’ (source Instagram: @graduatetalks.pk), highlighting the alarming speed at which false content is being generated and disseminated. Many more accounts are posting deceptively cropped video footage and images…

Upon uncovering the full video, it was evident that Professor Strauss had articulated a different sentiment. Caught in their lie, ‘Trojans for Palestine’ admitted that Professor Strauss did, in fact, only refer to Hamas but continued to argue that he meant all Palestinian supporters. They did this in a 24-hour Instagram story. Meanwhile, the deceptively cropped videos continue circulating on social media and going viral.

I guess the good news is that the whining liars don’t seem to be winning this argument but so far USC hasn’t fully self-corrected. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) pointed out USC policy protects speech even if others find it offensive.

The fact that some protesters characterized Strauss’s comments as “hate speech,” or even threatening to students, does not deprive them of protection under USC’s policies. The standards for punishing speech as a true threat or harassment are high, and Strauss’s remarks to a group of protesters fall far short.

Universities should be places of free inquiry and debate. When Strauss encountered protesters espousing a message with which he disagreed, he engaged with them directly. This is exactly what should happen between those with opposing views. That the “heated exchange of ideas” once common on university campuses appears to be an alien experience for many at USC does not justify their interpreting disagreement and criticism as threatening, or giving countenance to their complaints against Strauss on that basis.

Hopefully USC will come to its senses and restore professor Strauss’ right to teach classes on campus.