One of the Columbia University students who bravely tried to stop a crowd of anti-Israel protesters from taking over a university building last night made sure the agitators’ movements were slow enough for police and security to arrive at the scene and cheer them on. He told Fox News Digital that he tried to delay it. They stood up, but in the end neither showed up.
Rory Wilson, 22, a fourth-year history major, said she was furious that the hijacking occurred under the supervision of university police and that the NYPD never arrived despite students calling 911. talk.
Wilson was sleeping in her dorm shortly after midnight when her friends woke her up to say protesters were trying to take over Hamilton Hall, an academic building used by deans and other senior officials.
Colombian students speak out after witnessing building taken over by anti-Israel protesters: ‘We feel alone’
Rory Wilson (left) and Charles Beck (right) try to talk to rioters outside Hamilton Hall at Columbia University last night. (Marco Postigo Strel)
Desperate to protect the building from trespassers, Wilson said he and his friends slipped through a human chain set up by protesters that night to reach the building’s entrance. Wilson said the chain broke when the agitators dragged a black metal table to the entrance of the building and tried to tie it to the door.
Chaotic video from the scene shows Wilson and a friend, Charles Beck, standing in front of the door as the mob rushes in.
“It was a matter of trying to stand up for what I believed was right, even if I ultimately couldn’t stop the mob,” said Wilson, who is Jewish.
“They were acting illegally, and regardless of what you think about the situation in Israel, we know this was wrong and inappropriate.”
“Damaged university property, disrupted school activities, violated the university with which the university authorities were trying so hard to negotiate. I told the people that this is my protest against your protest, and they completely It was insane, and I kept saying I was free to stand there as a student on my own campus.”
As Wilson stood firm, his friend Beck was dragged away by an angry crowd.
During an occupation at Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall last night, a masked person smashed the door’s window with a hammer. (Getty Images/Alex Kent)
A man wearing all black then tried to throw Wilson to the floor, Wilson said, but she did not know if the man was a member of the university.
Wilson said the man had been guarding an encampment on the lawn earlier in the day and had called a man he passed a “Zionist” while spewing hateful rhetoric in Arabic. A friend of Wilson’s later translated it to mean “inbred.”
“He definitely looked dangerous and was physically threatening me and grabbing my leg,” Wilson said of the late-night confrontation outside Hamilton Hall. The agitators later hung a banner over the facility and renamed it “Hind’s Hall.” Hind Rajab was a 6-year-old boy who died during the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement believed to be from the group published in X.
“There were people signaling that the police might be coming, so I held out and I thought I could hold out by putting up big barricades to keep the building from getting damaged, but in the end the police never came.” said Wilson. .
As the mob surrounded him at the door, Wison said he was told by another friend to leave before things got even more out of hand.
Spoiled children have taken over the universities we paid to attend.
Anti-Israel demonstrators call for human chains outside Hamilton Hall on Monday night. (Alex Kent)
“I didn’t want to take any chances because you don’t know how violent it could get when you have masked mobs already breaking things and doing vandalism and making a fuss. So I left.”
Wilson acted as the last line of defense, stepping aside before the crowd began smashing through the door windows and occupying the building. As of this afternoon, it is still under occupation.
“The security guards were nowhere to be seen. As soon as we left the school, my friend called 911 and I called campus public safety and told them they were physically assaulting us and we were not assaulted.” I told them I had received it…but as far as I know, there was no response. All night long,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the campus felt unsafe after the break-in and she suspected people dressed in black were following her back to her dorm. Wilson said other people wearing black had also entered the building through windows, but it was unclear whether they were students or outside agitators.
One of the alleged professional agitators, who is in his 60s, was captured on video footage leading the Hamilton Hall takeover, and Ms Wilson said she had slandered him.
“She was harassing me all the time,” Wilson said. She attacked me and said, “You guys think of yourselves as white saviors?” Check out white male privilege. Who do you think you are? This isn’t doing anything. ”
When Columbia University occupied it late Monday night, a sign reading “Hines Hall” was posted outside the building. (Alex Kent)
“So she was constantly chewing us out and attacking us because of our race and gender.”
Mr Wilson is calling on the university to end the altercation and take action against the violent instigators.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I just sent an email to the university this morning about how much they care about the safety of all of their students, but I’m very disappointed that they did nothing when a real dangerous situation arose. “There are,” Wilson said. It has a handrail.
“And I think that guarantee rings very hollow when people are willing to actually show up and take care of the situation when it’s really dire. When you exercise and stand peacefully in public on campus, you are being physically assaulted on campus and doing nothing.”
“I think that’s really disappointing and embarrassing for this university.”
