Ilhan Omar’s daughter Isra Hirsi claims Columbia anti-Israeli protesters were attacked with ‘chemical weapons’ — but it was fart spray
“Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter cried foul over the lack of available information about what happened to the students whom she alleged sprayed “chemical weapons” at the anti-Israel protesters occupying Columbia University last week.
Isra Hirsi, 21, who was suspended by nearby Barnard College over her involvement in the Thursday demonstrations, called the higher education institutions hypocritical for their approach to the unrest.
“There is definitely some hypocrisy here,” Hirsi groused on MSNBC Monday night. “You can kind of see it with the students that sprayed us with the chemical weapons and the fact that there is no public information as to what happened to them.
“The university is actively discussing what is happening to the students here and making it a whole public spectacle … when we haven’t done anything to physically harm students.”
Although she didn’t specify what “chemical weapon” incident she was referencing, a Jewish student at Columbia University recently filed a suit against his suspension for discharging two “novelty fart sprays” during one of the protests.
That spray, which was bought on Amazon, was “non-toxic,” that student referred to as “John Doe,” alleged in the lawsuit.
Hirsi has been actively involved in the anti-Israel encampments and demonstrations unfolding at Columbia.
She confirmed last week that she was suspended by Barnard College after the school discovered she was arrested alongside roughly 100 others for refusing to leave an encampment at Columbia University.
Hirsi speculated that she was targeted right away because she and the other two students who were notified of their suspension alongside her, made their names known.
“We think … the reason we got suspended so early was due to the fact that we had made ourselves known,” she said, noting that the school later searched through arrest records.
“This was expected. We all knew the risks.”
Following her suspension, Hiri claims she was locked out of her dorms and campus dining facilities, something that took her by surprise. She previously described herself as homeless in the immediate aftermath of her suspension.
Hirsi also raged against what she described as a double standard between how the anti-Israel demonstrators were treated compared to the counter-protesters.
“This is 100% targeted. Every single protest that we have, there’s a group of counter-protesters that bring all of their items, their flags and things like that and they’re not seen as having unsanctioned protests, or really received the kind of disciplinary warnings that many of our fellow organizers receive,” she said.
Omar (D-Minn.) has backed up her daughter.
“I am enormously proud of my daughter @israhirsi. She has always led with courage and compassion, from organizing a statewide school walk out on the 20th anniversary of Columbine at the age of 15, to leading the biggest youth climate rally at our nation’s Capitol at 16, and now pushing her school to stand against genocide,” she wrote on X a day after Hirsi’s arrest and suspension.
Columbia and other elite institutions across the country have been rocked by fierce anti-Israel demonstrations on campus.
On Monday, Columbia announced that it would institute hybrid learning for the remainder of the semester amid safety concerns on campus.
A day prior, campus Rabbi Elie Buechler warned Jewish students to leave due to “extreme antisemitism,” prompting national outrage and a qualified condemnation from President Biden.
Hirsi shrugged off concerns that the protests could make other students “uncomfortable,” insisting “the encampment was honestly one of the beautiful forms of solidarity.”
Hirsi was undeterred from her protest activity and explained that she had three basic demands.
“Our three demands are … asking Columbia University to divest from all companies that are complicit in genocide, … transparency of Colombia’s investments, … as well as amnesty for all students that are actively being repressed and that were also suspended due to these pro-Palestinian protests,” she said.