All eyes are on USC after a video of an altercation between John Strauss, a professor of economics and gerontology, and students at a memorial Thursday for people killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 received millions of views on social media — spawning petitions with thousands of signatures both condemning and supporting Strauss.
Multiple versions of the video have circulated online. One of them shows Strauss walking past the memorial saying, “People are ignorant,” as two students approach him. A student responds, saying, “It’s just to pay respect for those who were killed.” Strauss then says, “Hamas are murderers, that’s all they are,” and “Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are.”
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“I don’t mind if they want to memorialize people who were killed. That’s fine, just as Jewish students are memorializing Israelis who were killed,” said Strauss, who said he is Jewish and supports Israel, in an interview with the Daily Trojan Monday. “But this started as a result of Hamas terrorist attacks.”
The same day, community members filed complaints with the Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX for discrimination on the basis of national origin and hate speech.
Since this article was first published, the Daily Trojan has obtained Provost Andrew Guzman’s letter to Strauss sent Monday, informing the professor of the “multiple formal complaints” filed against him to EEO-TIX, and that he would be barred from campus until further notice. All interactions with students would have to take place “remotely and not in person.”
The letter explicitly denies that these “interim measures” are disciplinary or punitive actions, with Guzman writing that they are “designed to minimize disruption to the educational environment and to ensure a safe environment for both you and students.”
Strauss told the Daily Trojan he got a call from a professor the day after the memorial letting him know that the provost put him on administrative leave with full pay. However, the University wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan Tuesday that Strauss has not been placed on administrative leave. He will teach his classes virtually for the remainder of the semester, according to the University statement.
One of the most widely circulated videos — posted by Craving Palestine, Lama Bazzari and Shaun King — has garnered more than three million views as of the time of publication. The video only features the portion of the altercation when Strauss said “Every one should be killed, and I hope they all are.” Strauss said that the video was “doctored” to make it sound as though he said all Palestinians should be killed. He said he only meant that Hamas members should be killed.
A longer video shows a more complete version of the altercation, beginning with Strauss walking past the memorial and saying, “People are ignorant.” A student responds, saying, “It’s just to pay respect for those who were killed.” Strauss then says, “Hamas are murderers,” and “Everyone should be killed.” (@trojansforpalestine via Instagram)
One of the most widely circulated videos only features the portion of the altercation when Strauss says, “Everyone should be killed, and I hope they all are.” (@cravingpalestine, @lamabazzari & @shaunking via Instagram)
A senior majoring in global studies who helped organize the memorial said “everyone was very agitated [by Strauss saying “Every one should be killed”] because it … conflated those innocent martyrs who were killed with Hamas.” The student requested anonymity for fear of her and her family’s safety.
“It conflated, therefore, their identities as Palestinians and the identities of Palestinian students at USC as targets of this threatening statement, and also ultimately made all of us feel extremely unsafe,” the senior said.
Strauss said “Israel forever” and “Hamas are murderers” to protesters during the “Shut It Down for Palestine” protest at Tommy Trojan — the same place as where the memorial was located — at around 1 p.m. Thursday. Two hours later, as Strauss was walking back from teaching his “Economic Development of Sub-Saharan Africa” class at around 3 p.m., he passed the memorial again, at which time a student from the memorial shouted, “Shame on you,” to Strauss.
Witnesses from the memorial said that, during the second interaction, Strauss intentionally walked across a list of people killed in Gaza that they laid on the ground in front of Tommy Trojan as part of the memorial. Strauss told the Daily Trojan that he was trying to move toward a student who had said “Shame on you” and wasn’t paying attention to where he was stepping.
Some students, faculty and the broader community outside of USC are calling for USC to remove Strauss as a USC professor. The USC Muslim Student Union published a four-page statement to its Instagram page Thursday condemning Strauss’ actions and the rise in harassment and intimidation that students have faced since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
Witnesses allege John Strauss, a professor of economics, stepped on papers with the names of those killed in Gaza. Strauss said this was unintentional. (Jordan Renville / Daily Trojan)
Members of the USC community also launched a petition Friday calling for Strauss’ removal, which has garnered more than 5,600 signatures as of the time of publication.
“This behavior is unbecoming of an educator and a professor of this stature,” the petition read. “This petition serves as a reminder to all professors and staff alike at educational institutes that they will be held accountable for their negative behavior towards students or anyone else within our community.”
Other members of the USC community launched a petition Monday backing Strauss that garnered more than 4,400 signatures as of the time of publication. The petition called out “double standards in the application of free speech principles” in relation to the speed at which the Office of the Provost placed Strauss on administrative leave. The petition also condemned a “disturbing pattern of misinformation and targeted harassment” in reference to the video some say is doctored.
Strauss said he has received hateful emails and is in contact with Associate Vice Provost for Threat Assessment and Management Patrick Prince to review them. The petition supporting Strauss also calls on USC to conduct a comprehensive review of the incident and reevaluate University policies on suspending professors.
“[I don’t think] the Jewish community at USC … are feeling very supported by the administration,” said Rena Harkham, a junior majoring in psychology who is Jewish and who helped author the petition supporting Strauss, “especially with what’s going on right now with Professor Strauss and how quick they were to act on these accusations when they were built on false claims … All he did in reality was condemn a terrorist organization, and people want him to be fired.”
USC declined to comment on whether it was considering disciplinary action for Strauss.
