- As pro-Palestinian protests multiplied on U.S. campuses on April 25-26, 2024, universities called on local and state police to remove protesters' encampments. Two photographs circulated online in posts claiming that state police snipers had set up on the roofs of buildings at Ohio State University and Indiana University.
- The OSU newspaper The Lantern reported that the people on the roof of the OSU building were initially using spotting scopes to watch protesters, but switched to rifles once arrests began on the green space below.
- We have not been able to confirm whether there was a sniper on the roof of the IU building. The university declined to comment, and Snopes is awaiting comment from the Indiana State Police.
As pro-Palestinian protests multiplied on U.S. campuses, two photographs circulated widely on social media on April 25 and 26, 2024. The posts claimed that the images showed law enforcement snipers standing on the roofs of campus buildings at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio and Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
The two images were relayed by user @rawsalert on X:
They were reshared multiple times , together or separately, on X and also on TikTok , Instagram and Reddit .
Ohio State University
The picture from Ohio State shows two men, apparently wearing military fatigues and matching baseball caps, standing atop of the Ohio Union building on campus (see Google Maps ). One of them appeared to lean on a tripod. The object atop his tripod was impossible to identify because of the shade. The other one stood with arms crossed behind a tripod. The sunlight revealed a small object on the tripod that looked like a scope.
Video of the men also was shared on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sjposu/reel/C6M1u3Lvbvc/
A search of the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security brought up surveillance tools known as spotting scopes . "Spotting scopes are monocular optical devices that focus on, and gather light from, a target to provide the user with a magnified view," the page read. "These scopes, which come in a variety of configurations and sizes, are used by responders for long-range surveillance."
The building overlooks a green space named South Oval. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators had been occupying the South Oval and police were called in to vacate the space, as Instagram video by OSU newspaper The Lantern showed:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6NAKfjreiz/
The Lantern, whose reporter had contacted university spokesperson Ben Johnson, initially reported on April 25 that the people on the roof were "state troopers in a watching position, similar to football game day," according to Johnson . The article was titled, "University Confirms There Are No Snipers on the Ohio Union's Roof."
The next day, however, The Lantern removed the first article from its website and published a new one citing Johnson, who said that based on information he'd obtained that day, the two people on the roof had indeed switched to "long-range firearms as part of their protocol."
Indiana University
The photo from Indiana University is more difficult to assess. One of the accounts that shared it was @IUonstrike , a group that appears to have formed in 2013 to organize a student strike. In 2024, the group had taken up the cause of Palestinians in Gaza.
The post claimed it was a photograph of the top of the Indiana Memorial Union , a building that overlooks a green space on the IU campus called Dunn Meadow. A student organization named the IU Divestment Coalition called for students to join the protest by setting up an encampment on Dunn Meadow to pressure the school against Israel and in favor of Palestinians.
We could not find direct confirmation of these claims, though the top of the building in the photograph resembles the top of the Indiana Memorial Union . We also found a post on X with a video that the poster Margaret Menge (@togdali) said was of the sniper on the roof of the building:
We contacted the public relations office at IU, which declined to comment, asking that we talk to Indiana State Police instead. We contacted ISP and the school campus newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, for more information. We'll update this story when we receive a response.
Snopes reporter Jack Izzo contributed to this story.
Sources:
Spotting Scopes | Homeland Security . https://www.dhs.gov/publication/spotting-scopes . Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
'University Confirms There Are No Snipers on the Ohio Union's Roof'. The Lantern , 26 Apr. 2024, https://www.thelantern.com/2024/04/university-confirms-there-are-no-snipers-on-the-ohio-unions-roof/ .
'Welcome to the Indiana Memorial Union'. Indiana Memorial Union , https://imu.indiana.edu/index.html . Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Updates:
April 26, 2024: This report was updated to add confirmation that the state troopers on the OSU building picked up firearms when arrests began.
Most Popular
Comments / 0