Painting shouldn’t be a controversial business.

The biggest conflict a painter should have to deal with is a husband and wife arguing about what color to paint the front door.

Unfortunately, last week showed that even painting contractors can get dragged into the hot-button issue of the day.

At Case Western University in Cleveland, a painting contractor found himself thrust into the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The university hired the painting contractor to cover up an unauthorized pro-Palestinian mural that it considered vandalism.

As you can imagine, the protesters weren’t going to take that lying down. So they stand against the wall to block the painter’s access.

In a video posted online that has gone viral, the contractor is shown methodically spray painting the wall up and down.

As he nears the first protester, it becomes obvious the painting contractor has no intention of stopping and is going to plow through the job he was hired to do.

The protestor flips a plastic mask down over his face to protect his eyes.

Then the contactor paints a white stripe on his stomach, leaving him looking like a backward skunk.

The mask turns out to be a good idea because it’s entirely white after the painting contractor sprays it. The painter then outlines the protester like a body at a murder scene. 

Predictably, this has kicked up a kerfuffle online, with the two sides debating the justness of the painter’s actions.

Case Western University President Eric Kaler has come out and apologized, distancing the university from the “third-party contractor.”

“Let me be clear: no students – or any individuals – should ever be treated this way, especially on a campus where our core values center on providing a safe, welcoming environment,”

Kaler said. “This is not who we are as an institution, and I am deeply sorry this ever occurred.”

This latest incident comes as protests at universities across the country continue to grow. The demonstrations kicked off on April 17 at Columbia University in New York but have since spread to campuses in virtually every state.

This means painting contractors may encounter more of this political action while they’re trying to complete their job.

Our advice? Don’t spray the protesters. It opens you up to liability because it’s a willful and dangerous act. The university president has already shown that they’ll throw you under the bus at the first sign of blowback.

Instead, stage a sit-in of your own until the site can be cleared of workplace hazards.