UCB Student Threatens Genocide to Palestinians; No Response From Campus

A Berkeley student spoke into the microphone at the ASUC meeting (date February 10th), declaring he "plan[s] to eliminate Palestinian nationalism and Palestinians from the world". There were Palestinian students in the room. When a UC Berkeley student tells his peers that he plans to kill them, the campus administration should take action.

Video Source: https://twitter.com/ptbp_/status/1227307020346417154

Berkeley campus should be free of terrorist threats. Surely, vowing to genocide an entire classification of people is against the campus code of conduct. Yet, the leadership of UC Berkeley has been bending to defend an extremely right-wing definition of "free speech" since Trump has taken office. So as unfortunately expected, the campus police and the campus administration have taken no action against the student in question.

Palestinian student leadership knows the name of the person in question, but has chosen not to publicly release it "because it's not about only about one individual". Palestinian students and their supporters have called upon the campus administration to affirm and defend the safety of Palestinian students on campus.

During the ASUC meeting, the senate facilitator took no action, and did not condemn what was said. When a group of students tried to follow the speaker, the UC Berkeley police got involved and apprehended the wrong person. The police mistake allowed the student to walk away. The police have yet to correct the mistake by detaining and investigating the correct student. The student was later identified by peers who recognize him, but the campus leadership has not responded.

Given the rise of violent hate crimes, and the rise of mass shootings in this nation, the campus should take this situation seriously. At this point, nobody can say for certain that the student who spoke has plans for immediate violence, but he should be investigated. A firm argument can be made for permanent expulsion from campus, along with the issuance of a stay-away order.