Contractor sprays paints student protestors in the face as they try to protect pro-Palestine mural

A painting contractor hired to erase a pro-Palestinian mural at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, sprayed a group of protestors in the face on Tuesday as they attempted to prevent the artwork’s removal.

Video footage posted online shows the contractor spraying paint over the protestors who were positioned against the pro-Palestinian mural which was painted on a campus wall.

As it becomes apparent that the contractor has no intention of stopping despite the activists’ refusal to move, the first protestor pulls down a plastic protective mask to shield their face from the paint, followed by the rest of the group using similar gear.

At Case Western Reserve University @cwru in Cleveland, a contractor hired to paint over a vandalized wall by pro-Gaza activists is met by protesters who want to stop him. He proceeds to paint over them too. The protesters say that's assault. pic.twitter.com/etArajcEZm

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) May 7, 2024

Ameer Alkayali, an 18-year-old student protester, said he intends to pursue legal action against the university after being sprayed.

“I stood against the wall, and the painters asked ‘Should we continue?’ The cops showed general confusion and didn’t tell them to stop,” Alkayali told local outlet cleveland.com. “So, as seen in the video, they continue to just paint right over us.”

“They told us to not put our hands in front of the machine because it’s dangerous,” he added. “And we put our hands up, and they still continued to paint on our hands and sprayed us with it.”

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In response, university President, Eric Kaler, apologised for the incident. He stated: “I have reviewed video footage, which depicts students blocking the wall as a third-party contractor spray-painted directly onto protesters as he attempted to finish painting the wall, and I am disturbed by what occurred.”

“Let me be clear: no students – or any individuals – should ever be treated this way, especially on a campus where our core values centre on providing a safe, welcoming environment,” he said. “This is not who we are as an institution, and I am deeply sorry this ever occurred.”

The pro-Palestine demonstrations on the campus came as the US saw more than 150 Gaza solidarity encampments prop up throughout the country.

More than 2,000 people, including students, have been arrested by US authorities during the pro-Palestine demonstrations.

The student demonstrations began on 17 April at Columbia University to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza, where more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and 78,500 injured since 7 October.

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85 per cent of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which, in January, issued an interim ruling that ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

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