WASHINGTON — Long Island Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito is demanding that the under-criticized president of Columbia University reimburse the New York Police Department for at least $200,000 for costs incurred in forcing the university to shut down an “absurd” and “illegal” anti-Israel tent camp on campus, twice last spring.
In his letter Friday, D’Esposito, a former New York Police Department detective, blasted Columbia University President Minouche Shafik for imposing high tuition fees “in an attempt to put an end to the disturbing and disgraceful pro-terror protests that took place” on the university’s Morningside Heights campus in April.
“The university bears responsibility for allowing pro-terrorist students, under your leadership, to disrupt campus operations, instill fear in Jewish and Israeli students, take custodians hostage, and become violent. The NYPD and taxpayers should not have to pay the price for your failure,” D’Esposito wrote in a slamming of Shafik.
“Given all the harm that pro-terror riots and encampments have caused under your watch to students, faculty, staff, surrounding communities and public officials, it is time to do the right thing by providing compensation to all those affected,” he added.
D’Esposito said Hamas-backed student protesters set up a Gaza solidarity camp on April 17, which was briefly shut down by police but quickly rebuilt and “left abandoned for several weeks.”
Meanwhile, Shafik “turned a blind eye” to harassment and intimidation of Jewish students, and the campus rabbi advised students to stay home due to “extreme anti-Semitism.”
An outspoken Jewish professor was once banned from campus because administrators acknowledged they could not ensure his safety.
Video footage and photos of protesters showed them chanting anti-Semitic slogans and carrying signs calling for the eradication of Israel, and one widely circulated image showed a protester declaring an Israeli flag-waving Columbia University student to be Hamas’ “next target.”
NYPD officers stormed the Columbia University campus on the evening of April 30th, arresting 112 protesters, 32 of whom were not even students at the Ivy League university.
Some people occupied Hamilton Hall before the crackdown and barricaded themselves inside the hall before being dragged away by police.
D’Esposito said the NYPD had “allocated $200,000 in overtime to cover this operation,” but that “this is no small amount and will have a negative impact on police operations.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD inspector, said on May 2 that Columbia “should pay the cost.”
On the same day that the first tent city was erected at Columbia University, Shafik testified unsuccessfully before Congress about addressing anti-Semitism on campus.
Columbia University’s president said chants of “from the river to the sea” and “intifada,” which call for the destruction of Israel, are “hurtful,” but declined to say whether they violate the school’s code of conduct.
D’Esposito joined a delegation of Republican House members that traveled to the Ivy League campus in April to denounce student protesters who sympathized with terrorism.
“If you’re proud of protesting on this campus and having the support of Hamas, you’re part of the problem,” D’Esposito said at a news conference on the steps of Low Library with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and other Republican lawmakers.
“When you support Hamas or Hezbollah, you are part of the problem,” he shouted. “On this campus, we see the same hateful rhetoric that permeates this country.”
A representative for Columbia University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
