The Louisiana Freedom Caucus expresses disgust and condemns the antisemitic event scheduled at Tulane University today promoting false and inflammatory accusations of Israel “weaponizing infectious diseases in Gaza.” This rhetoric, which incites passions, has no place on any Louisiana campus.

Organized by recognized student groups including the Palestine Solidarity Coalition and the Minority Association of Pre-Med Students, the October 22 talk features Dr. Salman Khan, a fringe figure advancing unhinged antisemitic fantasies driven by radical ideological fervor, and frames Israel’s actions in Gaza as an “active genocide” involving the intentional use of disease as a weapon. Such claims echo longstanding antisemitic tropes historically used to demonize Jews.

Under Act 549 of the 2024 Regular Session, Louisiana strengthened its tools against organized disruption, making rioting (R.S. 14:329.1), inciting to riot (R.S. 14:329.2), and terrorizing or menacing (R.S. 14:40.1) predicate offenses under the state’s racketeering statute (R.S. 15:1352(A)). Any coordinated campaign of threats intended to cause fear or disruption can now be prosecuted as racketeering which allows discovery into funding of the sponsoring groups. We would caution these groups to tread lightly.

“This is especially troubling at Tulane University, which has one of the highest concentrations of Jewish undergraduates in the country,” said Louisiana Freedom Caucus Chair State Rep. Beryl Amedée. “Jewish students at Tulane have already faced harassment, violence, and intimidation amid antisemitic activism, including physical assaults during earlier protests. Hosting an event that deploys these charged, historically resonant falsehoods create a hostile environment for a large portion of the student body and undermines the university’s duty to protect all students from discrimination and intimidation.”

“Tulane continues to provide institutional space and legitimacy to programming that singles out the Jewish state with claims widely recognized as antisemitic,” Amedée continued. “Universities that receive any public funding or operate in Louisiana have a duty to foster open inquiry without enabling bigotry or inciting hatred. This event fails that standard completely.”

The Louisiana Freedom Caucus calls on Tulane University leadership to cancel or at minimum disavow this event, enforce clear standards against antisemitic harassment, and take concrete steps to ensure the safety and equal treatment of Jewish students. We further urge state officials to review institutional practices at Tulane and similar campuses regarding the protection of free speech balanced against the prevention of targeted incitement and discrimination.

Louisiana’s students and families deserve better. Institutions of higher education must reject the importation of ancient hatreds into modern academic settings.