Nick watt has more on the
divisions at another major
school in California.
>> I hope they know.
Look at it.
>> Reporter: Those five seconds
have been reposted by national
influencers, viewed millions of
times on Instagram.
Watch again.
>> I hope they all are.
>> Look at the news.
>> Reporter: The caption
attached, this usc professor,
John Strauss, threatened these
students.
Hope you get killed, and I hope
they all are.
During a campus rally for gaza.
We call on usc to terminate this
professor immediately.
The college paper claimed
tenured economics professor
says, I hope they all are
killed, walking by an event
mourning Palestinian deaths.
Is that really what he meant or
even what he said?
Strauss, who is jewish and
pro-Israel appeared on the
campus news.
>> Media spoke with a usc
processor who was put on leave.
>> I started getting emails,
very, very nasty emails, things
from, I hope you die you fascist
pig, to, palestine forever.
>> Reporter: While an actual war
rages thousands of miles away,
this video and its fallout tip
identified the conflicts on so
many American college campuses.
>> We have an atmosphere that's
hostile to free speech is the
key problem.
The people who are going to
college are adults, but a lot of
them are acting like children.
They want to see people punished
for their speech.
>> Reporter: So, what actually
happened that day here in L.A.?
Well, here is a longer version
of that video, 21 seconds, not
5.
>> People are ignorant.
>> Professor Strauss, I believe.
>> Everyone should be killed.
>> And that they should all die,
everyone one of them, referred,
of course, to hamas.
>> The longer video of professor
Strauss was shot and posted by
this student, founder of trojans
for palestine.
She asked that we obscure her
identity for fear of reprisals.
Your identity is hidden, but you
exposed the identity of
professor Strauss.
How do you reconcile that?
>> Professor Strauss, first of
all, like, he is, a grown man,
tenured faculty who harassed
students.
>> Reporter: He said Strauss
stepped on the names of the
dead.
He said that must have been an
accident, emotions, she said,
were high.
>> They were filming the names
and laughing at them.
>> Reporter: We spoke to a
jewish student who was there,
remembering their own dead.
He did film the names, and he
was disrespectful.
He apologizes for any offense
caused but told CNN he does not
know for sure that all those
names are innocent dead
Palestinians because the source
is the gaza health ministry,
controlled by hamas.
And that's a basic problem on
these campuses.
The two sides barely agree even
on any basic facts.
>> Trojans for palestine.
Why did you feel moved to create
that?
>> We have a very large jewish
population on campus.
We have obviously the --
foundation.
I've seen a lot of
misinformation being spread.
>> Reporter: And the two sides
cannot even agree on the meaning
of what actually comes out of
mouths at the many
pro-palestinian rallies.
[ Crowd chanting ]
>> Reporter: Many
pro-palestinians say it's just a
call for freedom.
Many Jews say it's a call for
genocide, for the destruction of
Israel, which right now lies
between the river and the sea.
>> Is there a way back from
where we are right now, where
both sides feel similar things
in terms of their voices being
suppressed?
>> On a personal level, no.
What I know about someone is unequivocally going to support
Israel, I will cut them out of
my life.
>> And Nick watt joins us now
from Los Angeles.
What more is usc saying about
this?
>> Reporter: Well, that's very
interesting.
What they're saying basically
gives us the other slice of the
story, which is how college
administrators across this
country are struggling to deal
with this.
They're trying to not offend,
and they're making mistakes in
the process, as we've seen on
capitol hill.
Here at usc, they say Strauss
was never placed on
administrative leave.
He says he was, on November
10th.
So, I kept on pushing.
Eventually they told me, our
statement discusses his status
since November 13th.
Not exactly clear and candid.
They now say that -- they have
said all along that they are
shocked by the comments attached
to those videos.
And they now say all
restrictions are lifted.
He's allowed back on campus.
Also worth noting classes for
the semester have finished.
They also say he has not been
punished in any way.
Last I heard from his lawyer,
he's still under investigation
and still could be punished.
As I say, they don't appear to
know how to deal with all this