Eddie Liger Smith

Edward “Eddie” Liger Smith is an assistant wrestling coach at Loras College and co-founder of the Midwestern Marx Institute. He has repeatedly promoted tropes and conspiracy theories that echo longstanding anti-Jewish narratives. With an online following of roughly 450,000 across X and TikTok, he possesses a massive platform for disseminating these views to a wide audience. As a wrestling coach, he holds significant influence over impressionable young men while simultaneously leveraging a large social media presence to spread his inflammatory rhetoric. This combination creates a dangerous platform with the potential to shape and radicalize vulnerable individuals both on campus and online.

Smith has publicly promoted violence and has glorified Hamas, a U.S. designated terror organization, to his vast audiences. Examples of Smith’s rhetoric include:

• Calling Hamas terrorists “Palestinian resistance fighters” the day following the massacre on October 7th and saying, “What a courageous and powerful group of people.”
• Publicly supporting Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
• Referring to Hamas as “The people defending their children from the Zionist death machine that you support.”

Eddie Smith frequently uses conspiracy-based framing and broad, collective accusations that target Jewish people and promote antisemitic narratives.

Examples include:

• Framing “Israeli Zionists” as part of a “ruling elite” and characterizing them as “compatible with murderous anti-human destruction.”
• Stating “the Iranian Revolution is under attack from Zionist pedophiles.”
• Sharing “I hope this makes you reflect upon the way that Israel and the Zionist lobby is increasing rates of anti-semitism in the West.”
• Claiming it is “an objective, historical fact” that “Zionism is a terrorist ideology.”
• Stating “Anywhere in the world where you see actual Muslim extremist groups, you can almost guarantee that the U.S. and Israel have actually supported or funded them.”
• Claiming the Israeli government is “literally doing another Holocaust” and saying “but Americans like me need to give Israel 3 billion dollars a year in order to protect the Jews.”

Taken together, these statements go well beyond criticism of Israel and instead promote recurring antisemitic narratives rooted in conspiracy theories and collective blame. Repeatedly portraying Jews or “Zionists” as a powerful force behind society’s problems normalizes prejudice and hostility toward Jewish communities.

Eddie Smith’s role as a wrestling coach at Loras College, combined with his large online following, gives him significant influence over both student-athletes and a broader public audience. While entrusted with mentoring young people, he has repeatedly promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories, used dehumanizing rhetoric, and publicly praised Hamas – conduct that raises serious concerns about his ability to serve in a position of authority and trust.

Given the nature and pattern of this behavior, Loras College must conduct an immediate review and determine whether his continued employment is consistent with the institution’s values and its responsibility to provide a safe and inclusive environment for students.

StopAntisemitism needs YOUR help – click HERE to demand Loras College investigate Eddie Liger Smith.