Columbia University is facing a new federal investigation into allegations from two custodians who claimed they were attacked during the Hamilton Hall acquisition last spring and were forced to scrub swastikas on campus after being temporarily locked up by an anti-Israel “mob.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Committee (EEOC), a federal agency tasked with enforcing civil rights laws in the workplace, has launched an investigation into complaints by Lester Wilson and Mario Torres, who were forced to escape from Hamilton Hall almost a year ago.
“We welcome the EEOC's decision to open an investigation into the alleged discrimination between Mario and Leicester,” former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, whose Torridon represents the two men, told the Post.
“Columbia has a legal and moral obligation to protect the civil rights of students and employees. If they do not do so, it must be accountable.”
It is not entirely clear when the EEOC launched the probe, but records seen in the post show that the agency was working on an investigation last month.
Wilson and Torres, who have worked at school for over five years, have been injured, hurt and traumatized by the tragedy of anti-Israel unrest that swallowed Ivy League schools and then failed to return to work, according to a complaint filed last October.
“A few hours after President [Minouche] Shafik issued her statement [that the university had become ‘unsafe for everyone‘]an anti-Semitic mob attacks two custodians within Colombia's historic Hamilton Hall, calling them “Jewish lovers.”
“Columbia was not actually safe for anyone, including the two managers trapped in Hamilton Hall. And for these two men, Columbia has been a hostile environment for months in violation of Title VII,” the complaint added.
Both men make their claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, claiming they faced retaliatory harassment at agencies to “report anti-Semitistic and racist conduct.”
It all began around November 2023. Racist and anti-Semitist graffiti began to pop up, running around Hamilton Hall. And the campus custodians were forced to clean it up.
“Mr. Wilson recognized SW as a symbol of white hegemony,” Wilson's complaints alleges. “As an African American man, he noticed the images were deeply painful. He reported them to his supervisor and he instructed him to erase the graffiti.”
“No matter how many times Mr. Wilson removed sw, individuals continued to replace it with more.”
Wilson tracked how much he had to scrub, but his colleague Torres was Latino and pinned it to dozens and eventually reached the point he had enough, his complaints said.
“They were so aggressive and Colombia's inaction was so frustrating that he eventually began to throw away the chalk left in the classroom, so the destroyer couldn't write anything,” Torres' complaints alleged.
“But Mr. Torres was rebuked by the supervisor for doing so.”
Given the fact that Columbia University requires an electronic ID to enter Hamilton Hall, located on the school's Morningside Heights campus, and the fact that the building is equipped with a security feed, the two custodians felt that authorities could track the assailants.
They reported a massive flood of anti-Semitic, sexually indecent and racist graffiti on campus security at Hamilton Hall, and concluded that Columbia University had “explored any of the incidents.”
In one instance, around December 6, 2023, Torres and Wilson observed a storm through Hamilton Hall, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” running around with Swastika, as well as other indecent graffiti within the building.
Wilson reported that Campus Security told them “trespassers and destroyers are exercising their initial right to fix,” and that the complaint said “nothing can be done.”
Anti-Semitism incidents continued on campus.
Eventually, anti-Israel protesters nodded to the miserable circumstances that Palestinians endured in Gaza during the war and built the camp.
Wilson's union told him last spring that Columbia University would provide overtime to custodians who agreed to sort out the camp. He also witnessed anti-Semitism in those camps, the complaint alleged.
“He found a colleague in the camp cleaning up the mess within it,” Wilson's complaint said. “He saw and heard members of the camp screaming “Jews” and “Zionists” in his colleagues while he worked to clean up their mess. ”
He later chose to return to his normal shift. I didn't feel safe in the southern grass camp, not far from Hamilton Hall. Torres likewise felt he was not walking safely past the camp on his way to work.
Then came the infamous occupation of Hamilton Hall, What has been held during past protests over the past 50 yearsdemonstrations against the Vietnam War in the late 1960s.
Torres and Wilson worked at Hamilton Hall on April 29, 2024. A pack of masked protesters attacked the building and attacked it to take over.
“The masked intruders obstructed Mr. Torres' path every turn,” detailed Torres' complaints. “Mr. Torres didn't think that the storm had been closed all the way through which the first floor exit of Hamilton Hall.”
“Mr. Torres observed that what initially looked like chaos was actually very calibrated,” the complaint added. “Unmasked women and masked men issued orders to the mob and directed them to various areas of Hamilton Hall.”
The mob had moved vending machines and zip-bound doors to barricade the exits and entrances. After he decided that he had no choice, Torres decides to fight a path through the mob.
“I'm going to take 20 guys here to F – you on top,” said one masked rioter who thrusts Torres “hardly” according to the complaint. “Mr. Torres pulled the fire extinguisher, which was out of reach of his arm, and he left the wall to protect himself, replied, “I'm here.” ”
During that conflict, Torres was repeatedly hit in the back by other mobs. After repeated navigating and moving to the block-off exit, he eventually found a path blocked by a zip tie and a bike lock. Following his plea, one of the mobs cuts a zip tie and drives him out.
Wilson was pulled away from Torres during the chaos and immediately tried to escape after he decided that the mob had taken over. While leaving during his scramble, the mob broke the furniture on him and repeatedly pushed him according to the complaints.
“He recalls what he said, claiming that he was allegedly accused of, 'I work here. Let me leave.' “The mob responded by laughing at him and laughing at him. He remembers being told, 'You work for the Jews' and 'You're a Zionist.' Eventually, someone opened the door and Mr Wilson was physically kicked out of the building. ”
The mob seized Hamilton Hall shortly after ignoring an order to disband the camp in April last year. Eventually, the New York City Police Department intervened and cleaned up the building, leading to more than 100 arrests.
A few days ago, Columbia University had shifted most classes to distance learning due to uncertainty about campus conditions when it reached its boiling point.
The post was contacted EEOC for comments. Columbia University declined to comment on the ongoing investigation when asked from the post.
Columbia University faces intense scrutiny from the Trump administration over its handling of anti-Semitism on campus. Includes that caused by cutting Over $400 million in funds.
Ivy League schools are also facing investigations from the Department of Education's Civil Rights Office (OCR), alongside dozens of other institutions of higher education.
President Trump's team targeted rioters to search the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to see if foreign student visa individuals supported Hamas' support or violated the law.
Most notably, Trump's team expelled Mahmoud Khalil, one of the driving forces of the Columbia University turmoil. The court has suspended Khalil's deportation pending lawsuit.
