Remember Khymani James? The Columbia student who said, “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”. Well, he sued his school after being suspended — and just lost
A Radical Columbia Student Threatened The Lives Of Zionists. A Judge Just Tossed His Lawsuit.
James accused Columbia of discriminating against him. The judge wasn’t persuaded.
A former Columbia University student who went viral in 2024 after saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live” during a livestream of a disciplinary meeting has lost his lawsuit against the university.
Khymani James initially accused Columbia of discriminating against him because of his race and support for Palestinians, violating his rights under New York and New York City human rights laws, and failing to follow its own disciplinary procedures when it suspended him.
James’ suit then argued that Columbia violated his “Tedeschi rights,” which stem from a 1980 New York case requiring private universities to comply with their own disciplinary procedures. He also argued that the university punished him twice for conduct related to his January livestream and allowed outside pressure to influence its disciplinary decisions.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Waterman-Marshall dismissed James’ complaint on July 3, 2026, ruling that he could not pursue his “Tedeschi rights” claim as a standalone lawsuit and that he had failed to adequately plead his discrimination claims.
During the 2024 livestream of a meeting with Columbia’s Center for Student Success and Intervention, which had summoned James to discuss earlier antisemitic comments, he said “there should not be Zionists anywhere” and “the world is better without them,” while comparing killing Zionists to killing Adolf Hitler.
James was initially placed on disciplinary probation after Columbia determined in April 2024 that he violated university policies by livestreaming a January disciplinary meeting without permission and using language that “denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward group members of a protected class.” The probation period allowed him to continue his academic progress on the condition that further violations could lead to additional disciplinary action.
Columbia then suspended him one day after The Daily Wire reported his comments on April 25 of that year. At the time, James was participating in the university’s ongoing anti-Israel encampment, where he served as a media liaison and “member of the safety team.”
His request to re-enroll for the fall 2025 semester was denied because of what Columbia described as “insufficient” reflection on the conduct that led to his suspension.
In the lawsuit, James claims the university only suspended him to save face amid national backlash.
“The timing and language of the sanction letter makes it clear that Columbia acted in response to external forces and national media attention,” the suit stated. “The university is allowing external forces, applying pressure to it, to dictate outcomes in individual student disciplinary cases.”
When announcing the lawsuit, James accused Columbia of discrimination, as well as “cowering” to “billionaire donors” and “fascist politicians.” In a follow-up tweet, he posted a picture of himself flipping off the camera on a jet ski.
Since leaving Columbia, James has continued making incendiary statements, including posts that appeared to praise the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in September.
On the day Kirk was assassinated, James tweeted a heart-eye emoji alongside “down with all the fascists” and “More. MORE!!!”
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Rep. Virginia Foxx, the former chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, responded to his posts accusing the school of failing to suspend him despite the university telling her he would be.
“He was not expelled. Nothing was done. [Columbia] you have failed again, again, and again,” Foxx posted.
Columbia responded by confirming that James has been barred from campus since April 2024 and that he is not a registered student.
James responded by filing a lawsuit against Foxx accusing her of using her position of power to punish him for his “First Amendment-protected criticism of Israel and the Palestinian people” by obtaining his expulsion from Columbia.
When announcing the suit, James tweeted at Foxx, writing “don’t die yet, I’m suing you.”
Foxx accused the suit of lacking “credibility and factual basis.”
The suit remains ongoing.
In April 2026, James claimed he was temporarily prevented from re-entering the U.S. from Canada after he refused to allow Customs and Border Protection officers to search his electronic devices. He accused officials of targeting him for his pro-Palestinian activism, calling the situation “crazy, lame, and ILLEGAL AS F*CK” and adding, “I’m a CITIZEN, HOE!” James later said he had returned to the U.S. without surrendering his devices and thanked his “friends and comrades” for helping him get back safely.
The events that led to James’ lawsuit against Columbia began after he posted on social media that Zionists who wanted to “meet up and fight” should know that he “fights to kill.” According to James’ lawsuit, he made the comments after receiving hateful messages over his support for Palestinians and said he intended to deter people from harming him.
Columbia’s Center for Student Success and Intervention then summoned James to a January 9 meeting to discuss complaints about his posts. According to the lawsuit, James livestreamed the meeting because he felt endangered and wanted to show what he viewed as Columbia’s repression of pro-Palestinian students and people of color.
During the meeting, James said he was “very comfortable” calling for Zionists to die and compared killing Zionists to killing Nazis, fascists, and racists.
“Zionists don’t deserve to live comfortably, let alone Zionists don’t deserve to live,” James said. “The same way we are very comfortable accepting Nazis don’t deserve to live, fascists don’t deserve to live, racists don’t deserve to live, Zionists, they shouldn’t live in this world.”
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“Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists,” James also said. “I’ve never hurt anyone in my life, and I hope to keep it that way.”
James was barred from Columbia’s campuses and prevented from completing the semester, according to the lawsuit. The suit also claimed that no other student was suspended that day for participating in the encampment, though other students were suspended on different days.
In a since-deleted April post on X, James claimed he “misspoke” when he repeatedly called for Zionists to die in the January livestream.
In May, James received another letter for participating in a “human chain” at the encampment. A viral video showed James directing protesters to push pro-Israel students out of the encampment. The lawsuit states James was “reasonably engaged in peaceful self help” in this incident.
“One step forward,” James was seen yelling as the crowd repeated after him in unison while stepping forward.
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James received a letter in August notifying him that he was suspended for the academic year for his participation in the human chain, the suit states. James has received death threats and suffered from anxiety, fear, and depression since his suspension, the suit claims.
The lawsuit then launches into a tirade against the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, comparing its hearings on college antisemitism to bringing “a new form orf [sic] McCarthyism to the American scene.
A Radical Columbia Student Threatened The Lives Of Zionists. A Judge Just Tossed His Lawsuit.
