Ole Miss frat boy who made shocking racist gestures towards black female pro-Palestine protester is unmasked as finance student football jock – as chapter kicks him out

A fraternity at the University of Mississippi has expelled a member who mocked a black protester with monkey noises as the college faced calls to expel him.

Finance chief James “JP” Staples was named by the university’s chapter of the NAACP as the student who was filmed jumping from foot to foot and growling like a monkey at Jaylin Smith during a nasty clash on the university’s campus in Oxford.

Staples, 21, was expelled from a college fraternity on Friday because it condemned “racist actions that conflict with the values ​​of Phi Delta Theta and Mississippi Alpha chapter.”

But black students are demanding he be stripped of his college spot, along with two Kappa Alpha fraternity members they accuse of racially abusing protesters.

“The students who publicly expressed horrific and racist rhetoric and exhibited disgusting and offensive behavior MUST be expelled from this university,” wrote NAACP chapter president Megan Curry. “I said what I said, and I meant it. REALLY.’

The finance major has been expelled from his Phi Delta Theta chapter for his ‘racist actions’

Tempers flared on the green campus when a group of about thirty pro-Palestinian demonstrators were met by more than two hundred counter-protesters on Thursday.

Smith was barricaded with chants of “Lizzo” and “lock her up” after stepping forward to film the counter-protest as police tried to keep the parties apart.

Video of the meeting was approvingly reposted by Republican Rep. Mike Collins, who shared the video with the caption, “Ole Miss takes care of business.”

He was forced into an abrupt about-face on Monday, signaling that Staples had to seek “forgiveness” as backlash against the monkey gestures spread.

“I understand and respect the feedback shared about one individual during the Ole Mis protests,” he wrote.

“If that person is found to have treated another human being inappropriately because of their race, they should be appropriately punished and hopefully they will ask for forgiveness,” he wrote.

Staples is a former high school football player from Plano, Texas, who is studying real estate and finance in college, where fees average $27,000 a year.

University Chancellor Glenn F Boyce said the school had launched an investigation into the counter-protesters and that the behavior was “offensive, offensive and unacceptable, including actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones.”

The 21-year-old has scrubbed his social media profiles but was hailed as an ideal model in this 2021 Instagram post

The former high school football player from Plano, Texas, was one of about 200 counter-protesters who arrived and were confronted by 30 pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the Oxford campus.

Journalism student Jaylin Smith was taunted with cries of “Lizzo” and “lock her up” as she filmed the counter-protesters

The pro-Palestinian demonstrators were eventually led away from the site after being outnumbered by rowdy counter-protesters.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves shared a separate video of the counter-protest that he said “warms my heart”

“While student privacy laws prohibit us from commenting on a specific student, we have opened one investigation into student conduct,” he added.

“We are working to determine if more cases are warranted.”

The pro-Palestinian protest in a gated area of ​​the university campus was just one of dozens of student actions that have spread to college campuses across the country.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested, including hundreds at New York University, USC and Columbia, as police have moved in to clear camps.

The White House on Thursday announced a series of new measures to protect Jewish students amid claims that they are being targeted by anti-Semitic abuse by protesters.

The Education Ministry’s Office for Civil Rights said schools and colleges would receive new guidance on protecting Jewish students, including examples of what constitutes anti-Semitism.

Smith, a university journalism student, accused police of siding with counter-protesters.

“I’m standing up for my right to freedom of expression and things are being thrown at me, and officers are putting their hands on me to bring me back,” she added.

The clash was the latest example of unrest following Gaza solidarity demonstrations on campuses. Pictured: California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers detain a protester as they clear a pro-Palestinian camp after a dispersal order was issued at UCLA on May 2, 2024

Students illegally occupying Hamilton Hall at Columbia University were evicted by police on Tuesday

Both protests in Mississippi ended without arrests shortly after the clash.

The university said in a statement that it is “committed to supporting the rights of our students, faculty and staff to respectfully express their views and peacefully assemble as enshrined in the First Amendment.”

“While today’s demonstration was passionate and several protesters and counter-protesters received warnings from law enforcement about their actions, there were no arrests, no injuries were reported and the demonstration ended peacefully.”