Republicans use campus protests as new line of attack against Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown

Republicans hoping to unseat Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall have zeroed in on a new wedge issue: Campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

The Senate Republicans' campaign arm dropped a new ad Wednesday highlighting Brown's support of student loan forgiveness as demonstrations rock universities nationwide. Brown is seeking a fourth term against Republican Bernie Moreno in one of the country's most competitive U.S. Senate races.

“If students want to make their voices heard, they need to do it in a nonviolent way," Brown told reporters Wednesday. "They need to do it without spewing hatred."

Students from Ohio to Minnesota have called on their schools to divest from Israel and want elected leaders to push for a ceasefire. The unrest comes months after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, setting off another war within the region. Tensions escalated at universities in recent weeks after police arrested more than 100 protesters at Columbia University in New York.

Ohio law prohibits state agencies, which includes public universities, from contracting with companies that boycott or disinvest from Israel.

Campus protests put Democrats in tough spot

The protests have put Brown and other Democrats in a difficult place as they seek to capture the support of young voters this November.

Protesters contend the U.S. and Israel are fueling a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, citing incidents like the shooting of hundreds of Palestinians waiting for food in Gaza City. Over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the conflict, according to the United Nations − citing data from Gaza's health ministry − and about 1,200 Israelis died in the Oct. 7 attack.

At the same time, supporters of Israel contend the campus protests drive antisemitism and make schools less safe for Jewish students.

Brown says Israel has a right to defend itself, but he's also condemned the deaths of civilians and called for more humanitarian assistance in Gaza. He told Axios on Tuesday that he wouldn't "talk about the politics" of the protests, prompting his opponent to accuse him of supporting "antisemitic radicals."

Moreno, for his part, changed his tune on U.S. aid for Israel after initially saying that it didn't need more assistance or financial support.

"Peaceful protest is a fundamental American value and our First Amendment is sacred to me, but the vile, violent, antisemitic, pro-Hamas demonstrations that we are seeing on our campuses are lawless and go far beyond free speech," Moreno said in a statement.

Moreno also said he supports how Ohio State University President Ted Carter handled protests last week that led to the arrest of three dozen people. Brown said "the law needs to be enforced" when asked about the police response, but Ohio House Democrats argued police were heavy-handed in their treatment of the protesters.

"Universities are places of exploration and inquiry and they have always been places where students seek to find their voices," the Democrats said. "The health and stability of our democracy also depend on the preservation of non-violent opportunities to express dissent."

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Republicans target Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown over campus protests