NYPD: Violence Won’t Be Tolerated Amid Anti-Israel Protests At Columbia University

OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
2:37 PM – Monday, April 22, 2024

As Columbia University moves all classes online amid anti-Israel protests around campus, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) maintains a heavy presence outdoors, where the university is considered public property. said.

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NYPD Deputy Commissioner Michael Garber emphasized at a press conference Monday that the New York campus is private property.

“Unless there’s an emergency, unless there’s a crime going on, you can’t conveniently go to the Columbia campus,” Garber said. “It’s up to the university to decide whether or not to have us on campus. As a general matter, Columbia University, and this goes back many years, doesn’t want the NYPD on campus. That is their decision.”

But the NYPD said criminal behavior of any kind, including property damage and harassment or intimidation, “will not be tolerated.”

113 protesters were arrested on campus last week after the university’s president, Minoush Shafiq, sent a letter to the NYPD asking for help.

Columbia University faculty members went on strike Monday in solidarity with student protesters over the university’s decision to call police on pro-Palestinian students.

Dozens of protesters set up tents around the university’s west lawn, carrying food, clothing and signs that read “Welcome to the Palestinian People’s University.”

A prominent rabbi at Columbia University called on Jewish students to stay home on Sunday.

Rabbi Elie Buechler said, “The past few days, and especially last night’s events, have shown that Columbia University Public Safety and the New York City Police Department are unable to guarantee the safety of Jewish students in the face of extreme anti-Semitism and disorder. It became clear,” he said.

A Jewish professor at the university said he was prevented from entering the main campus on Monday. He also said the school disabled his key card.

Video footage captured Jewish students protesting anti-Semitism on campus over the weekend.

Witnesses said they were immediately met with threats and hate speech. One pro-Palestinian demonstrator held a placard with an arrow pointing at Jewish demonstrators, saying they were Hamas’ next target.

On Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D.N.Y.) visited the university to discuss anti-Semitism and the need to protect public safety.

“I have never seen such a visceral level of protest, so person-to-person,” Hochul said. “And I’m calling on you all. People need to find their humanity, have conversations, talk to each other, understand different perspectives, because that’s what college students are supposed to do.”

All 10 House Republicans from New York called on Columbia University’s president to resign on Monday, saying the campus has descended into “anarchy.”

Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and founder of a foundation to combat anti-Semitism, also withdrew his support for the university.

“The school I love so much, the school that welcomed me and provided me with so many opportunities, is no longer the institution I recognized,” Kraft said in a statement posted to Twitter. said.