Johnson: ‘There is an appropriate time’ for National Guard if student protesters don’t disperse

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Wednesday that there may come a time when the National Guard will be needed to quell pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and other universities where unrest has occurred.

Johnson’s comments came during a combative press conference he held with Republican lawmakers at Columbia University in New York City, where they said they had set up an encampment on campus. He called on pro-Palestinian protesters to disperse and denounce the anti-Semitism that allegedly pervades the university. CAMPUS — all while the crowd jeers the group.

“If this is not contained quickly and these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there will be an appropriate time for the National Guard,” Johnson said. “We have to bring order to these campuses. We cannot allow things like this to happen across the country. We are better than this.”

Johnson said he planned to call Biden after his campus visit to “share what we’ve seen and demand that he take action,” insisting he has “appropriate executive authority.” .

Johnson’s statement comes after Republican Sens. Josh Hawley (Missouri) and Tom Cotton (Arkansas) called on Biden on Monday to end professionally-organized sit-ins and other demonstrations across the country. The announcement comes in the wake of calls for the National Guard to be deployed to universities, particularly Columbia University. -Palestinian protesters.

The next day, Mr. Cotton and 26 other Republican senators sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Attorney General Merrick Garland, warning that “disorder on campuses effectively shut down by anti-Semitic mobs targeting Jewish students” He called for the recovery of the

Biden condemned the demonstrations at Columbia University on Monday, saying he blamed both “anti-Semitic protests” and “people who don’t understand what’s happening to Palestinians,” before calling it quits. It was done.

Wednesday’s press conference with Johnson and other Republicans, including Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Mike Lawler of New York, Anthony D’Esposito of New York, and Nicole Malliotakis of New York. became the latest example of a member of Congress visiting Columbia University’s campus amid professional protests. -Palestinian protests and anti-Semitism allegations.

Mr Johnson called on Colombian President Minouche Shafik to resign, meeting with him minutes before the public event and saying he should resign “if we cannot immediately bring order to this chaos”.

“We met briefly with the president and her leaders just before we went out on the steps here. We encouraged her to take immediate action and eradicate this problem. And our feeling is , they failed to act to restore order on campus,” Johnson said at another point in the press conference.

“This is dangerous. This is not freedom of expression, this is not the First Amendment. They are threatening Jewish students with violence,” he continued. “We met with Jewish students who are terrified. They can’t come to campus and can’t study for their final exams. This affects everyone’s lives. It also affects the image we present to the world. This is not who we are as Americans.”

He also suggested the House could move to cut off federal funding to colleges that don’t provide a safe environment for Jewish students.

“If these campuses can’t get this problem under control, they don’t deserve taxpayer dollars. It’s a very serious problem,” Johnson said as lawmakers return to Washington next week to address anti-Semitism. In response to a question about what the House of Commons plans to do, he said:

“You’ve seen our Education and Workforce Commission conduct oversight hearings. We took these university presidents to Congress and had them testify under oath. We’ve seen accountability begin. There will be more. We will continue to work on legislation to coordinate this at the federal level,” he added.

“This Congress, I truly believe there is bipartisan agreement on this, will stand up for what is good and what is right. And it doesn’t matter who screams in our face. No. We’re going to do what’s right in America. We respect freedom of speech. We respect diversity of thought. But there are ways to do it legally. That’s not it.”

Republicans themselves faced jeers when they condemned Wednesday’s demonstrations, with boos from the crowd chanting “I can’t hear you,” “Your microphone sucks,” and “Get out of here.”