James Fishback’s campaign appears to be again displaying antisemitism, apparently blocking Jewish students from accessing a talk at the University of South Florida Marshall Student Center on Tuesday, despite university rules dictating that all must be permitted at events on campus. Making matters worse, USF employees seem to have been complicit.
The Young Americans for Liberty and the USF Young Republicans, both official student groups, invited Fishback. Because a student group had reserved the space, university rules required the event to be open to the public. Typically, university police manage security for these events.
But neither of those things happened. Fishback’s team handled security on its own, and USF police were present but not in charge. Instead, Fishback’s team decided who could enter.
Worse, the only students known to be denied entry — three in total — were all Jewish. One was told he was a “threat,” even though he showed no threatening behavior, appearance, or tone. He was wearing a Magen David and a kippah.
The other two Jewish students were told they had “cut the line” and could not enter, even though there was no actual line. They went to the back of the crowd and tried again, but were denied entry once more.
Fishback’s team spoke with USF police and told them the three students were not allowed in. After that, USF police denied the students entry without providing a reason.
In a statement, USF defended the decision to deny entry.
The decision was based on information provided claiming initial entry was denied “after representatives with the event witnessed them attempting to skip the line” and again “after representatives with the event reported (those attempting entry) have made threats at similar past events at other universities.”
“University personnel made decisions to deny access to the event strictly based on the information they received about behavior observed at the USF event and at past events. No university decisions were made based on the appearance or perception of religious beliefs or affiliations. USF does not tolerate antisemitism and any other harassment, discrimination or hateful expression targeting individuals because of their religion, shared ancestry or cultural heritage,” the statement continued, adding that “USF is collecting more information, including contacting any students who were not allowed to enter” to better understand the situation and determine next steps.
It didn’t stop there.
While waiting to get in, the Jewish students were mocked and made fun of, even though they were the ones labeled as “threats.”
Another Jewish student, who was not identified as Jewish by Fishback’s team, and Sylvie Feinsmith, a Jewish professional on campus, were allowed in. Feinsmith witnessed behavior and heard comments she described as “going back in a time machine” because of the racist and antisemitic rhetoric.
“Fishback touched on real problems faced by everyday American citizens, but wrapped them in a hateful package that blamed various groups,” she said. “He said we have an addiction problem in this country, and it is not drugs or alcohol but AIPAC.”
“He claimed that Zionists, along with Russian oligarchs, are why we cannot afford houses, because Zionists want to buy their second or third home here,” Feinsmith continued. “The crowd reaction when he said these things was a roar of applause.”
Feinsmith also overheard people in the audience using terms like “goy slop” to refer to Jews, saying “I want to go to a Klan rally,” and using “6 million,” a reference to Jews killed in the Holocaust, as an insult or a joke.
She saw more than one participant give the Nazi salute.
All of this happened on Yom HaShoah, the Jewish day of remembrance for Holocaust victims.
Fishback is scheduled to visit Florida Atlantic University on Monday and has already been to the University of Florida (UF).
While there are a lot of videos of Fishback’s speech, it’s not yet known if there are recordings of the Jewish students being taunted or denied entry by university officials.
Nevertheless, proposed funding with bipartisan support in the upcoming state budget would help combat antisemitism on campus. Sponsored by Sen. Alexis Calatayud and Rep. Allison Tant, the funding is important for protecting Jewish students on seven Florida campuses: USF, Florida State University, FAU, UF, Florida International University, University of Central Florida, and University of Miami.
When the Legislature returns in June to finalize the state budget, the funding would directly impact campuses’ ability to uphold the law, protect Jewish students equally, and respond to the growing hate from both sides of the political spectrum.
