A fraternity at the University of Mississippi has expelled a member who taunted a black pro-Palestine protester with monkey noises as the college faces calls to expel him.

Finance major James 'JP' Staples was named by the college chapter of the NAACP as the student who was filmed hopping from foot to foot and grunting like an ape at Jaylin Smith during an ugly clash on the college's Oxford campus.

Staples, 21, was expelled from a college fraternity on Friday as it condemned 'racist actions antithetical to the values of Phi Delta Theta and the Mississippi Alpha chapter'.

But students are demanding he be stripped of his college place, along with two Kappa Alpha fraternity members who they accuse of also racially abusing protesters. 

University chancellor Glenn F Boyce said the school has launched an investigation over behavior that was 'offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable, including actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones'. 

James Staples was filmed hopping from foot to foot and grunting like an ape at Jaylin Smith

The finance major has been expelled by his Phi Delta Theta chapter over his 'racist actions' 

NCAAP chapter president Megan Curry said: 'Those students who publicly hurled atrocious and racist rhetoric as well as exhibited disgusting and offensive behavior, NEED to be expelled from this university. I said what I said, and I mean it. TRULY.' 

Tempers flared at the leafy campus as group of around 30 pro-Palestinian protesters were met by more than 200 counter-demonstrators on Thursday.

Smith was barracked with chants of 'Lizzo' and 'lock her up' after stepping forward to film the counter-protest as police tried to keep the sides apart.

Video of the encounter was approvingly reposted by Republican representative Mike Collins, who shared it with the caption, 'Ole Miss taking care of business'.

He was forced into an abrupt U-turn on Monday, suggesting Staples should seek 'forgiveness', as a backlash against the monkey gestures spread.

'I understand and respect the feedback that's been shared regarding a single individual during the Ole Mis protests', he wrote.

'If that person is found to have treated another human being improperly because of their race, they should be punished appropriately, and will hopefully seek forgiveness,' he wrote.

Staples is a former high school footballer from Plano in Texas, studying Real Estate and Finance at the college where fees average $27,000 a year.

University chancellor Boyce said: 'While student privacy laws prohibit us from commenting on any specific student, we have opened one student conduct investigation.

'We are working to determine whether more cases are warranted.'

The 21-year-old has scrubbed his social media profiles but was praised as an ideal model in this Instagram post from 2021 

The former high-school footballer from Plano in Texas was among around 200 counter-demonstrators who arrived confronted 30 pro-Palestine demonstrators at the Oxford campus

Journalism student Jaylin Smith was taunted with shouts of ' Lizzo' and 'lock her up' as she filmed the counter-demonstrators

The pro Palestine protesters were eventually escorted away from the site after becoming out numbered by rowdy counter-protesters

Mississippi State Governor Tate Reeves shared a separate video of the counter-protest which he said 'warms my heart' 

The pro-Palestine protest in a fenced-off area of the college quad was just one of dozens of student actions that have spread to college campuses across the country.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested including hundreds at New York University, USC and Columbia as police have moved in to clear encampments.

The White House announced a raft of new measures to protect Jewish students on Thursday amid claims they have been targeted by anti-Semitic abuse from protesters.

The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights said schools and colleges would receive new guidance on protecting Jewish students including examples of what constitutes anti-Semitism.

Smith, a journalism student at the university accused police at the event of siding with the counter-protesters.

'I'm standing for my right to free speech and getting things thrown at me, and officers are putting their hands on me to move me back,' she added.

The clash was the latest example of unrest following Gaza solidarity demos on campuses. Pictured: California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers detain a protestor while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at UCLA on May 2, 2024

Students illegally occupying Hamilton Hall at Columbia University were evicted by police force on Tuesday

Both the protests at Mississippi State ended shortly after the clash with no arrests.

The university said in a statement it was 'committed to supporting the rights of our students, faculty and employees to express their views in a respectful manner and to assemble peacefully as enshrined in the First Amendment'.

'While today's demonstration was passionate and several protesters and counter-protesters received warnings from law enforcement over their actions, there were no arrests, no injuries reported, and the demonstration ended peacefully.'