http://studentactivism.net/2013/03/15/professor-assaults-activist-students-during-bizarre-tirade-at-demonstration/

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/police-charge-u-oregon-instructor-violent-assault-student-palestine-activists

A man who has been identified as James Olmsted, an adjunct professor of law at the University of Oregon, instigated a bizarre confrontation with UO student activists this week, in the course of which he shoved one student and snatched another’s cell phone. Videos of the incident — including one recorded on the stolen phone — have gone viral in recent hours.

The altercation took place at a mock border checkpoint established by Students Against Imperialism, a newly-formed UO group concerned with “US imperial attitudes on the border with Mexico and in Israel/Palestine,” which it calls “examples of racial and imperial conflicts with gendered and class implications.”

In the video taken on the stolen phone, Olmsted is first seen aggressively lecturing a group of female activists about human rights in pre-Columbian America before urging them to “start a fucking war” if they “want the country back.” He then goes on to offer them disjointed and patronizing organizing advice before taking off his jacket and daring the students to “move” him. When a male student intervenes in an attempt to defuse the situation, Olmsted shoves him twice, calling him a “prick” and removing his own glasses before daring the student to “do something.”

Less than a minute later, he grabs a female student’s phone and places it, still recording, in his pocket.

Throughout the incident, the students are calm, reasonable, and cautious, while Olmsted — who appears as if he may be drunk — veers between instigation, sophistry, and defensiveness. The video taken on the stolen phone ends as Olmsted, having failed to negotiate an erasure of the recording, removes it from his pocket.

The only media coverage of this incident so far is a short piece from the UO student newspaper, and I haven’t seen a statement from the university yet.

But the blogs are all over it. Stay tuned…

Update | It’s not entirely clear that this is a result of Wednesday’s events, but Olmsted used to be on the UO Law School’s adjunct faculty directory, and he’s not anymore.

Second Update | According to a statement from the university posted on Twitter by a local journalist, Olmsted has been fired. The statement says that Olmsted’s “teaching responsibilities” have been “reassigned.” Though the statement goes on to say that the university is “unable to discuss details of this situation at this time,” it concludes that “we expect all members of the campus community to conduct themselves with the highest degree of respect for public discourse.”

Third Update | A UO blog has the text of a mass email sent out by the law school’s dean an hour and a half ago confirming Olmsted’s dismissal.

Fourth Update | The website Electronic Intifada reports that Olmsted will face criminal charges. No details were available from their source, though I have heard similar reports from eyewitnesses. More soon.

Fifth Update | Local news site KVAL reports that Olmsted was arrested at the scene of the altercation, and cited for theft and harassment. The stolent phone belonged to UO junior Jaki Salgado, who told KVAL that it was not returned to her until after police arrived. Reached by telephone on Friday afternoon, a “very upset” Olmsted declined to comment.

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