New York City police officers on Monday instructed reporters that Columbia University “does not want NYPD present on campus,” regardless of an anti-Israel encampment that includes antisemitic and pro-terror chants, sparking critical safety issues for Jewish college students at first of Passover.
At a press convention, NYPD Deputy Commissioner Michale Gerber emphasised that Columbia University is non-public property, so police can enter solely within the situation of a criminal offense in progress or somebody at risk.
“If someone is, for example, who is being attacked, we’re going to go in to Columbia University, as we would to a private home to help protect that person,” Gerber mentioned. “But absent exigency, absent some ongoing crime, we cannot just go on the Columbia campus as we see fit. It is up to the university to decide whether or not they want us on campus. As a general matter, Columbia University and this goes back many years, does not want NYPD present on campus. That is their decision.”
On Thursday, the day after Columbia President Dr. Nemat “Minouche” Shafik was held to account earlier than the House Education on the Workforce Committee concerning hovering antisemitism on the Ivy League faculty within the wake of the Oct. 7 assaults by Hamas militants on southern Israel, the college knowledgeable NYPD that they’d college students who have been trespassing.
So, Gerber defined, Columbia management requested police to return onto campus and take motion. More than 100 individuals have been arrested and later launched.
NYC MAYOR HAMMERS ‘PROFESSIONAL’ COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS, SAYS NYPD ‘READY’ TO MOVE IN
An particular person is arrested throughout an anti-Israel demonstration exterior of Columbia University in New York City on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
“But that was an exceptional case in the normal course. They’ve made clear that we’re not to be there,” Gerber mentioned. “And so we’re not there now around the university, in the streets, around the university, that’s public property there. We have a very large police presence. And our officers obviously are going to take action to prevent crime and to make arrests if there is a crime.”
He added that any sort of violence, property harm or criminality “is not going to be tolerated,” together with “harassment or threats or menacing or stalking” not protected by the First Amendment.
Despite New York City Eric Adams even calling out chants from Columbia anti-Israel agitators “supporting a terrorist organization that aims to kill Jews,” decrying such speech as “sickening and despicable,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard confirmed on the press convention, “There’s been no credible threats to any particular group or individual coming from this protest or any other.”
NYPD officers patrol as anti-Israel agitators display exterior Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
COLUMBIA RABBI TELLS JEWISH STUDENTS TO LEAVE CAMPUS, WARNS THAT SCHOOL, NYPD ‘CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY’
Shafik, breaking her silence over the weekend in issuing an in a single day assertion, canceled in-person courses on Monday, calling for a “reset” as “tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas.”
Police officers stand in entrance of the doorway of Columbia University which is occupied by anti-Israel protesters in New York on April 22, 2024. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP through Getty Images)
Instead of bringing in police to disperse the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” that has persevered for days on the South Lawn, Shafik promised a “working group of Deans, university administrators and faculty members will try to bring this crisis to a resolution” within the coming days, together with via “continuing discussions with the student protestors and identifying actions we can take as a community to enable us to peacefully complete the term and return to respectful engagement with each other.”
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“I know that there is much debate about whether or not we should use the police on campus, and I am happy to engage in those discussions,” Shafik mentioned. “But I do know that better adherence to our rules and effective enforcement mechanisms would obviate the need for relying on anyone else to keep our community safe. We should be able to do this ourselves.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/columbia-does-not-want-nypd-present-campus-anti-israel-protests-raise-jewish-safety-concerns-police
