Protesters at Columbia University assaulted actor and comedian Walter Masterson while he shouted about Star Wars in a storm trooper costume.
The comedian showed up in front of a crowd holding Israeli flags wearing the storm trooper helmet and holding up a sign that read, “The Empire Did Nothing Wrong.” Protesters present at the demonstration grew visibly angry with Masterson and forcibly grabbed the helmet away from him in retaliation.
Masterson, acting as a storm trooper, defended the villainous Empire in the Star Wars franchise against the Rebel Alliance — who are the series’ heroes — by arguing the liberal media is lying to cover for the Rebels. He alleged that the Mandalorian used Baby Yoda as a “human shield.”
“The Empire did nothing wrong!” Masterson shouted. “Moff Tarkin blew up Alderaan. The liberal media is not gonna tell you that. The Rebel Alliance kidnaps children, and they indoctrinate them.”
Columbia University protestors get upset when I talk about STAR WARS pic.twitter.com/bJy1DY0Q2k
— Walter Masterson (@waltermasterson) April 29, 2024
The protesters yelled at him to exit the protest and eventually met him with aggression. A man wearing an American flag around his body hit the storm trooper helmet off of his head, as others in the crowd shrieked at him. (RELATED: University Of Washington’s Pro-Palestinian Protest Delayed Because It’s Not Diverse Enough)
“Some people just don’t want to talk about Star Wars,” Masterson said.
Masterson told a Jewish individual, who said he will appear on Fox News the coming day, that the liberal media ignores how Alderaan — the home planet of Princess Leia — was used as a base for the Rebel Alliance. He then commended the Sith Lord for dealing with the Trade Federation and the blockade of Naboo.
The individual asked Masterson how Star Wars compares to the Israel-Hamas war.
“How does that connect to this issue while you’re out here?” he asked.
“What issue?” Masterson said. “What? What’s this? What’s going on here? What is this?”
It then hit him that the demonstration is in support of Israel.
“Oh. Israel? Oh. Huh. Hard to say, really,” he added.
Protests have erupted at college campuses all over the U.S. throughout mid-April, leading to hundreds of arrests and violent clashes with police officers. The New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested 113 protesters blocking the campus with encampments during an April 18 demonstration, and have since arrested more, according to ABC News 7.
Columbia University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik ordered classes to be virtual on Monday and heightened its security controls around Morningside Heights. Rabbi Elie Buechler, who is tied to Columbia’s Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, told Jake Tapper he dispatched a WhatsApp message to around 300 mostly Orthodox Jewish students “strongly” suggesting they leave campus, CNN reported.