JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Israel-Hamas war demonstrations at the University of Mississippi turned ugly this week when one counter-protester appeared to make monkey noises and gestures at a Black student in a raucous gathering that was endorsed by a far-right congressman from Georgia.
“Ole Miss taking care of business,” Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins wrote Friday on the social platform X with a with a link to the video showing the racist jeers.
The Associated Press left voicemail messages for Collins on Friday at his offices in Georgia and Washington and sent an email to his spokesperson, asking for an explanation of what Collins meant. There was no immediate response.
The taunting brought sharp criticism on and off campus.
“Students were calling for an end to genocide. They were met with racism,” James M. Thomas, a sociology professor at the University of Mississippi, wrote Friday on X.
The Rev. Cornell William Brooks, a former president and CEO of the NAACP and professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, wrote on X that a white man mocking a Black woman as a monkey “isn’t about ‘Stand With Israel’ or ‘Free Palestine.’ This is protest as performative racism.”
Collins was first elected to Congress in 2022 and made several social media posts criticizing campus protests.
Nobody was arrested during the demonstration Thursday at the University of Mississippi, where hecklers vastly outnumbered war protesters. According to a count by AP, more than 2,400 arrests have occurred on 46 U.S. university or college campuses since April 17 during demonstrations against the war.
The student newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, reported about 30 protesters on the Oxford campus billed themselves as UMiss for Palestine. Videos and photos from the event showed the protesters were in a grassy area near the main library, blocked off by barriers erected by campus security.
They chanted “Free, free Palestine," and carried Palestinian flags and signs with slogans including, “Stop the Genocide" and “U.S. bombs take Palestine lives.”
Student journalist Stacey J. Spiehler shot video that showed campus police officers and the dean of students standing between anti-war protesters and hecklers. After the Black woman protesting the war had what appeared to be a heated exchange of words with several white hecklers, one of the men made the monkey gestures and noises at her.
About 76% of the university's students were white and about 11% were Black in 2022-23, the most recent data available on the school's website.
University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce said the school is committed to people expressing their views. He said some statements made on campus Thursday were “offensive and unacceptable."
In another statement Friday, Boyce said one “student conduct investigation” had been opened and university leaders were “working to determine whether more cases are warranted.”
“To be clear, people who say horrible things to people because of who they are will not find shelter or comfort on this campus,” he said.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves reposted a video on X that showed counter-protesters on the campus singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“Warms my heart,” Reeves wrote. “I love Mississippi!”
In this photo taken from video provided by Stacey J. Spiehler, a pro-Palestinian protester is confronted by hecklers at the University of Mississippi, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. The hecklers vastly outnumbered pro-Palestine demonstrators and video shot by a student journalist showed one white heckler making monkey gestures and noises at a Black woman who was supporting pro-Palestine protesters. (Stacey J. Spiehler via AP)
University of Mississippi student and counter-protester Connor Moore, center, taunts graduate student Jaylin R. Smith with a piece of bread during a protest in support of Palestinians on Thursday, May 2, 2024, outside the J.D. Williams Library on the school campus in Oxford, Miss. (HG Biggs/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)
In this photo taken from video provided by Stacey J. Spiehler, hecklers shout at a pro-Palestinian protester at the University of Mississippi, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. The hecklers vastly outnumbered pro-Palestine demonstrators and video shot by a student journalist showed one white heckler making monkey gestures and noises at a Black woman who was supporting pro-Palestinian protesters. (Stacey J. Spiehler via AP)
PHOENIX (AP) — Javier Báez broke out of a season-long slump with five RBIs, Tarik Skubal pitched six dominant innings and the Detroit Tigers pounded the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-0 on Friday night.
Coming off consecutive shutouts against Florida, the Tigers roughed up Rhyne Nelson (2-3) with three runs in the third inning and added six more in the fifth while chasing the Arizona right-hander. Detroit had 11 runs by the fifth inning and finished with a season-high 17 hits — seven for extra bases, but no homers.
“We’ve obviously been waiting and hoping for a night like that and it came together at a good time for us,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ve done this before and this is a good version of us, but one good at-bat after another, it’s pretty awesome to see. It's contagious."
Hinch insisted he was going to keep sending Báez out despite the shortstop’s meager .167 batting average. Báez rewarded him with a 3-for-4 night that included a pair of two-run doubles and a run-scoring single.
He wasn’t alone in Detroit’s hit fest.
Kerry Carpenter had four RBIs and Colt Keith went 4 for 5 with two RBIs. Wenceel Pérez and Riley Greene also had run-scoring hits.
“We did a good job of just directing the ball wherever he pitched it,” Hinch said. “We didn’t try to hit the ball out of the ballpark.”
It was more than enough for Skubal (6-0), who dominated despite fighting early nerves with numerous friends and family in attendance.
The left-hander who played high school ball in Kingman, Arizona, took a perfect game into the fifth inning and allowed one hit with six strikeouts in a combined three-hitter.
Skubal didn't allow a baserunner until Randal Grichuk's one-out double off the wall in the fifth inning and left with the Tigers leading 13-0.
“I was probably a little amped up, a little nervous, but it's all good,” Skubal said.
Not for Arizona.
The reigning NL champions appeared to be headed in the right direction, winning seven of their previous 10 games.
The Diamondbacks fell into a huge hole after Nelson's worst outing of the season and couldn't muster much of anything against Skubal, getting two of their three hits in the eighth inning.
Arizona’s lone bright spot: Ketel Marte singled in the ninth inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 16 games.
“The one good thing about today is that it's over,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.
Nelson was solid in his last outing, but it didn't carry over against the Tigers. The right-hander allowed eight runs on 11 hits in four innings in his worst outing of the season.
“I think he just misfired some pitches in the middle of the zone,” Lovullo said. “I think that's the common denominator: When he's good, he's hitting lines, when he's not he's missing in the zone — and he paid for that tonight.”
TRAINER'S TABLE
Tigers: RHP Kenta Maeda (illness) will begin his rehab assignment for Triple-A Toledo on Sunday. ... RHP Shelby Miller (ulnar nerve irritation) underwent a hydrodissection procedure earlier this week and played light catch as part of his rehab.
Diamondbacks: OF Alek Thomas has resumed baseball activities and feels no soreness in his left hamstring. ... SS Geraldo Perdomo took live at-bats at Arizona's spring training facility as he works his way back from a torn meniscus.
UP NEXT
Arizona RHP Zac Gallen (5-2, 2.86 ERA) tries for his sixth win in the middle game of the series against Detroit RHP Jack Flaherty (0-3, 3.88).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, right, takes the baseball from starting pitcher Ryne Nelson, left, during the fourth inning of the team's baseball game against the Detroit Tigers on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Ryne Nelson throws to a Detroit Tigers batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 17, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Detroit Tigers third baseman Matt Vierling throws to first base for the out on Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, while shortstop Javier Báez (28) watches during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 17, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter (30) celebrates after his two-run triple as he stands between Tigers third base coach Joey Cora (56) and Arizona Diamondbacks third base Eugenio Suárez, right, during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, May 17, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Detroit Tigers' Colt Keith connects for a run-scoring single against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, May 17, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal throws to an Arizona Diamondbacks batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 17, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
