UW-Madison calls claims of antisemitic protest near UW Hillel Foundation ‘significantly exaggerated’
By Kyle Jones and Logan Rude
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MADISON, Wis. (WISC) — MADISON, Wis. — UW-Madison officials said Tuesday that claims recently made on social media and shared by conservative commentator and former NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch about antisemitic protests outside UW Hillel were “significantly exaggerated.”
On Tuesday, Loesch shared an image on X, formerly Twitter, that she claimed showed text messages sent by a friend of a friend’s daughter. The daughter, a UW-Madison student, claimed she faced antisemitic abuse while trying to enter Hillel, UW-Madison’s Jewish student center.
According to the messages, protestors outside Hillel cut an Israeli flag and stomped on it, and yelled obscenities about Jewish people through a megaphone. The daughter and her friend had to be escorted inside the building by police.
It is unclear from Loesch’s post when the incident occurred, though university officials said the protest happened last week.
UW-Madison officials said in a statement shared Tuesday afternoon that those allegations weren’t accurate, adding that while protests in front of Hillel likely caused distress for some, the protest itself was entirely peaceful.
“Contrary to social media posts, no violence occurred, nor were any direct threats expressed, and a flag was not cut,” the statement reads in part.
In a post on X shared earlier Tuesday, UW-Madison officials urged caution when it came to the veracity of the claims in Loesch’s post. The university also shared a post by UW Foundation board of directors member Rick Sandler, who said Loesch’s claims were inaccurate.
“The protests made students uncomfortable but based on multiple eyewitness accounts those outrageous chants didn’t happen,” Sandler said. “No flag was cut. Wildly exaggerated accounts are their own kind of virus.”
Both Sandler and university officials condemned antisemitism and university officials said violence and direct threats would not be tolerated.
In a statement to News 3 Now, UW-Madison Police Department spokesperson Marc Lovicott said UWPD has been supporting the Madison Police Department at Hillel over the past several weeks.
“Nothing that’s being described in [Loesch’s] post has been observed by our officers,” Lovicott said.
University officials said UWPD officers did respond out of an abundance of caution and escorted some concerned students into Hillel at their request.
Hillel is located adjacent to the UW-Madison campus and is under MPD’s jurisdiction. News 3 Now has reached out to MPD for more information on claims made in Loesch’s post.
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Jaymes Langrehrjlangrehr@wisctv.com608-277-5241
