UB student arrested for threatening pro-Israel protesters

UB police identified the 18-year-old student who later turned himself in, facing a felony charge of terroristic threatening and a misdemeanor charge of threatening mass harm. He was later released and issued a ticket to appear in Amherst Municipal Court.

Police have not yet released the student’s name.

He is accused of posting a photo of the pro-Israel rally with the caption suggesting someone should “shoot it” on the public Snapchat story of the UB 2027 class. Although the original post was deleted, he been shared on several social media platforms.

UB has an on-campus legal process to review how a student violates the university’s student code of conduct, as a result of which the student may be subject to various sanctions.

“The university will respond immediately whenever threatening, harassing or discriminatory acts are committed against a member of our community,” Brian Hamluk, vice president of student life, said in the statement. “UB declares in the strongest possible terms that we strongly condemn and oppose anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination. »

However, some students denounced unfair and unequal treatment by the administration. Zanaya Hussain, a board member of the UB chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, called UB’s actions “ironic” in a text message to The News.

“…They themselves are perpetuating evil against Muslim and Palestinian students by arresting us, beating us, removing our hijabs, posing in niqab/hijab to spy on us simply because we are exercising our right to protest according to the First Amendment,” she said.

Following last week’s pro-Palestinian protests that urged the university to divest financially from Israel and other companies suspected of aiding Israel’s war on Gaza, about 200 supporters of Israel rallied in solidarity at outside the UB North Campus alumni area.

Meanwhile, more than 200 university professors signed a letter criticizing the administration of UB President Satish K. Tripathi for its handling of the pro-Palestinian protest on campus on May 1, which led to the arrest of 15 demonstrators.

The letter urges the administration to drop charges against protesters and disciplinary actions against students, as well as to publicly review protocols related to policing on campus.

He also noted that the heavy police presence outnumbered the number of people participating in the protests, while accusing the police of escalating the situation and making the campus less safe.

“I guess it’s only members of the white community they are interested in, not the Muslims they arrested on Wednesday while they were praying the Mahgreb,” Hussain added.