April 22, 2024 - Protests at Columbia and other schools escalate

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued a statement Monday regarding tents on its campus.

Robert Kraft, billionaire owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots and backer of Columbia University, on Monday said he is still willing to support The Kraft Center at the school that supports Jewish students, calling it “a haven of safety.”

Kraft, an alumnus of the university, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” that he loves the school and “we have to have accountability.”

“There are both professors and students within the university who say things that I think cross the line and there should be accountability. I believe in free speech. Say whatever you want but pay the consequences. And don't have your face covered. I don't think that should be allowed,” he said.  

“I can’t believe in New York City at Columbia University Jewish students are afraid to go to classes in the United States of America in 2024. It’s amazing to me and horrible,” Kraft also said.

Asked where he drew the line at Columbia University regarding both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protests and what he finds objectionable, he said “there is a lack of education on the situation” happening in the Middle East. 

“I’m concerned about America and what’s going on in this country. And to keep it open and free for all people of all backgrounds to do as they wish,” he said.

Asked if he has confidence in Columbia University’s president, Minouche Shafik, he said he thinks she is “very well intentioned” and said “we have to look at what goes on with faculty.”

Hundreds of people gathered on Low Plaza Monday afternoon as Columbia University faculty delivered speeches in support of the student protesters who were suspended and arrested Thursday.

Faculty who spoke denounced university president Minouche Shafik’s decision to authorize the New York Police Department to remove protesters from campus and demanded all legal and disciplinary charges be dismissed and expunged from students' records.

Faculty held signs that read, “Hands off our students,” and “End student suspensions now.” Some faculty donned their academic regalia and wore sashes that read, “We support students.”

Speeches were met with cheers and claps from the crowd, as well as chants for Shafik to resign.

Christopher Brown, a professor of history, said, “I’m here because I am so concerned about what is happening at this university, with where we are now and with where we are going. Thursday April 18, 2024, will be remembered as a shameful day in Columbia history.”

“The president’s decision to send riot police to pick up peaceful protesters on our campus was unprecedented, unjustified, disproportionate, divisive and dangerous,” Brown said.

US Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose daughter Isra Hirsi was among the protesters arrested Thursday, posted on X that while she’s glad to see faculty demonstrate in solidarity with students, she wants the protests to focus on Gaza.

"On Thursday, Columbia arrested and suspended its students who were peacefully protesting and have now ignited a nationwide Gaza Solidarity movement. This is more than the students hoped for and I am glad to see this type of solidarity. But to be clear, this about the genocide in Gaza and the attention has to remain on that," Omar wrote.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday condemned “vile” and “disgusting” rhetoric being used at campuses such as Columbia University, where students are holding protests over the Israel-Hamas War.

Adams told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he supports First Amendment rights but said law enforcement officials are on the ready if any of that speech goes too far or if there’s an imminent threat to people or property.

"That is one of the fundamental rights we hold dear as Americans: The right to protest," Adams said on CNN's "The Lead." "What we have seen playing out on many of our college campuses, and particularly Columbia University, is hate. We’re seeing vile language being used."

Adams noted that he can feel the "duality of this moment" and how the events of the past six months are weighing heavily on Jewish and Palestinian New Yorkers. He added that the police escorts of Jewish students through campus were reminiscent of the Army soldiers who escorted nine Black students into a high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, nearly 67 years ago.

"There is no place for hate in this city," he said.

New York Police Department officers have a “large presence” surrounding Columbia but have remained off the campus grounds at the request of the school’s administration, NYPD deputy commissioners said earlier on Monday.

Adams told Tapper that the NYPD’s commissioner of legal matter is monitoring the protests for any speech that violates law. Additionally, police officers will take "appropriate action" and go on private property if there’s an "imminent threat."

Protesters have gathered at The New School, located near the Chelsea area of the New York City borough of Manhattan.

An encampment of four tents was set up in the lobby of the building that houses auditoriums, a cafeteria and a library. Roughly 75 students, and other people who have The New School IDs, gathered inside the building.

"Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not stop, we will not rest," was repeatedly chanted. 

Outside the building, protesters from the school, as well as outsiders, joined in chants from the sidewalk.

There’s a stark difference between the inside of Columbia University's campus and the outside, where there are protesters gathered on the street. 

The encampment is only open to those affiliated with campus. Only those with a Columbia ID can enter the campus gates. Inside the encampment, programs include teach-ins, poetry readings and film screenings. Some students are quietly finishing assignments, while others are painting posters.

Elsewhere around campus, students are eating and completing assignments. Many students take graduation pictures at this time, and some are in graduation gowns walking down Broadway. Risers are set up for an upcoming commencement ceremony.

Other students are holding large American flags underneath Butler Library.

But the students can still hear the tension that is taking place yards away at the university gates. There is a gathering of pro-Palestinian protesters, who in the early afternoon were chanting “I believe that we will win” and “Long Live the Intifada.” There was a smaller group of pro-Israeli protesters, who chanted back “Down with Hamas” and “Victory to Israel.” A line of New York Police officers were monitoring the street.

The inside of the encampment is quiet – most of the noise comes from protestors outside the gates of Columbia University's campus, who are chanting “I believe that we will win” and “Long live the Intifada."

It was a sunny day on campus, and in one corner, students were painting posters. One person strummed a stringed instrument, and other students are reading books or on their laptops finishing assignments. Others have donated provisions, ranging from a table of snacks to hygiene products. There was also a pile of blankets.

“We’ve just been trying to keep students mobilized and keep pushing for divestment,” Dalia, a first-year student at Columbia College, told CNN. “We are a very mobilized student body and a very unified student body. Hundreds of people have been in and out of the encampment.”

CNN agreed not to publish her surname due to safety concerns.

She said the students at the campus “refuse to be complicit in the genocide, the apartheid, and the occupation of Palestine.”

There are strict community guidelines for the encampment. One rule says not to share names or details of anyone met in camp, and asking for permission before photographing or taking video.

The encampment is filled with dozens and dozens of tents, from students to neighboring Barnard College staff. Today’s encampment program included an Earth Day performance, poetry reading and a Dabka lesson, a traditional dance from the Arab region. Prior program events included dance performances from different cultures.

Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Dan Goldman of New York and Kathy Manning of North Carolina, who are all Jewish, spoke at a news conference Monday after touring Columbia University’s campus. 

"We saw it firsthand as we walked past the encampments on the university's main lawn full of protesters spewing incendiary antisemitic hate and vitriol. Many aren't even Columbia students I've been told. Their campaign of intimidation is sickening and shocking and as the White House said yesterday, ‘echoes the rhetoric of Hamas terrorists,'" Gottheimer said. 

He also criticized Columbia University leadership, saying, “toothless combinations from administrators aren't going to stop the anarchy we’re seeing.”

“The only way to do it is with deeds, not words,” Gottheimer said. “Colleges have a legal obligation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to provide students, including Jews and Muslims, a school environment free from discrimination and harassment based on race color or national origin. Yet just feet from here, Jewish students are being verbally and even physically assaulted.”

Gottheimer continued, “To the administrators of Columbia and beyond, here are our demands: Stop the double talk and start acting now. Discipline harassers, restore civility on this campus, encourage peaceful constructive dialogue.”

He also gave a message for students: “While the leadership of Columbia may be failing you, we will not. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe and do everything in Washington we can to make sure that you feel welcome at this university or any university across the United States of America. And Columbia University, if they don't follow through, will pay the price.”

Goldman said he was "encouraged" the Columbia University president issued guidelines about additional security, calling it a "very important first step" and criticized what is happening on campus.

"That is unacceptable for a university, that is unacceptable for an academic institution. There is no question that everyone has a First Amendment right to speak out in this country and that must be preserved," Goldman said. "But a university and all universities have an obligation to maintain the safety and security of their students from all backgrounds."

Manning said university leadership should "do more to keep Jewish students safe and to re-establish an atmosphere in which all students can learn, study and participate safely in campus life."

"Columbia must also move forward with its promised efforts to teach its students and its faculty about the nature and history and dangers of antisemitism. It must ensure that Columbia professors are not encouraging and spreading antisemitism," Manning said.

"I call on the US Department of Education and the US Department of Justice to work with the White House to ensure that all universities take steps necessary to keep Jewish students and faculty safe. I also call on Congress to enact legislation to implement the steps outlined in the US national strategy to counter antisemitism, to address the scourge of antisemitism which is a threat to the foundations of our democracy," she said.

President Joe Biden decried antisemitic protests around college campuses Monday and said his administration was working to combat anti-Jewish hatred.

"I condemn the antisemitic protests, that’s why I’ve set up a program to deal with that," Biden said when questioned about the events at Columbia University in New York.

"I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians," he said, without expanding upon what he meant.

Biden was speaking after an Earth Day event in Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia.

When asked whether Columbia's president should resign, Biden appeared to mishear: "I didn’t know that. I'll have to find out more," he said.