Laura Loomer’s ISIS Club: The Real Story

In the spring of 2015, Laura Loomer, then a senior at Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, collaborated with Project Veritas on an undercover sting operation to test the university’s policies on student organizations.

Wearing a hidden camera, she approached administrators and proposed forming a group called “Sympathetic Students in Support of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS), framing it as a “humanitarian” effort to support education and aid in the region, including potentially for families of fighters. While staff expressed initial hesitation and suggested renaming it something like “Students in Support of the Middle East,”.

The secretly recorded video footage was edited and released by Project Veritas to claim the Catholic university was willing to approve a pro-ISIS club, sparking widespread controversy.

Barry University responded by suspending Loomer for violating its code of conduct, citing disruption of the campus community and creation of a hostile environment for staff; one professor even filed a complaint over being recorded without consent.

The video marked an early example of Loomer’s provocative activism style, using deception to highlight perceived institutional biases or lax standards, though critics viewed it as dishonest entrapment that misrepresented the university’s position.