Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D.Y.) avoided visiting Columbia University as anti-Israel and anti-Semitic protests descended into chaos on campus.
The pro-Palestinian occupation first occurred on the Ivy League campus earlier this month and quickly developed into an encampment, taking over some of the school’s outdoor spaces.
The movement has continued ever since, with support from prominent New York Democrats. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D.N.Y.) and Jamaal Bowman (D.N.Y.) have said that the encampment continues to garner national media attention and significant backlash. He was seen visiting members of the encampment.
A spokesperson for Mr. Schumer did not respond to multiple inquiries, but referred FOX News Digital to the majority leader’s remarks on Tuesday, which referred to the protests on the Senate floor.
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Prominent Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are avoiding visiting Columbia University as anti-Semitic protests continue and intensify. (Getty Images)
“Breaking windows with a hammer or occupying a university building is not free speech. It is an illegal act, and those who do it should face immediate consequences, not just a slap on the wrist. ” Schumer said, referring to the recent takeover of universities by protesters. A building on the Columbia University campus.
The New York Democratic Party’s office did not say whether he would follow the lead of House Republican leaders and visit schools that happen to be in his home state.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) led several Republicans to visit universities amid protests last week, saying, “We have to bring order to these campuses. We cannot allow this to happen across the country.” It’s better than this. ”
Mr Johnson said on Tuesday that he had called on President Biden to personally visit the school as protests intensified.
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Schumer’s New York resident Gillibrand, who has also been outspoken in her support for Israel, was asked by Fox News Digital about her plans to visit Colombia and whether she supports the “Squad Democrats” who support protesters. did not respond.
Gillibrand said in a statement last week that she was “appalled by the vicious anti-Semitism unfolding on Columbia University’s campus.” “Threats of violence against Jewish students and the Jewish community are horrific, despicable, and completely unacceptable. Terrorist rhetoric has no place in New York. New York stands for tolerance and the right of all groups to practice their religion in peace. I am proud of it.”
Rep. Jared Moskowitz said Jewish students were not protected at Columbia University and compared anti-Israel protesters to the “white Aryan” protesters in Charlottesville. (Getty Images)
House Democrats, including several representing New York, have also expressed concern about the protests. In a letter signed by 21 members led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D.N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D.Y.), Democrats called on the university’s board of trustees to “anti-Israel… It called for the dismantling of “unauthorized and impermissible encampments.” He told anti-Semitic activists on campus that the time for negotiations was over.
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Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer were among those who joined their Republican colleagues in condemning anti-Semitism on Columbia University’s campus. (Getty Images)
Rep. Richie Torres, another New York Democrat who is a signatory to the letter, has not visited campus since the camps began, but told Fox News Digital that there was no “requirement to do anything at Columbia University, such as meeting with Jews. I’ve been there a few times,” he said. Students at Columbia Law School or those who participate in Shabbat at Columbia Chabad will continue to do so. ”
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Rep. Thomas Suozzi of New York, who recently replaced ousted former Rep. George Santos, was also a signatory of the letter. Last week, he shared a series of posts with X detailing his visit to Colombia during the protests.
“Yesterday, I went to Columbia University to show support for Jewish students who are facing harassment, intimidation, and vicious anti-Semitic attacks on campus,” he said in one post.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) denounced a visit to the encampment by “members of Congress” who “accused some Jewish students of being ‘pro-genocide'” and said that I mentioned Representative Omar (D). -Min, who said in the video Last week, he emphasized the fact that all Jewish children should be kept safe, and that anti-Semitism and bigotry against all Jewish students, whether pro-Jewish or not, should be tolerated. I think it’s really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that there is no genocide or anti-genocide. ”
