Donald Trump has hailed the New York Police Department for successfully rounding up hundreds of anti-Israel protesters at New York’s City College and Columbia University. “New York was under siege last night,” the former president said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin. He called the protesters “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.”
“But the police came in and in exactly two hours everything was over,” Trump said of the NYPD’s response to protesters, according to New York Post. These demonstrators had erected an encampment on the CUNY campus, and also took over an academic building at Columbia illegally.
“It was a beautiful thing to watch. New York’s finest,” Trump said.
Describing the chaotic scene, Trump said, “You saw them go up and ladders, breaking the windows and getting in – and that’s dangerous because you don’t know what’s on the other side of that window.”
“And they went in – they knocked it out – and they were incredible. They did a great job,” he added.
The NYPD raided the two campuses and arrested around 300 protesters. The cops reportedly entered the campus after receiving a notice from Columbia authorising them to take action. Students were escorted off campus, some with their hands zip tied behind their backs and loaded on to law enforcement buses.
What did Columbia say?
Confirming that it reached out to police to take action, Columbia said in a statement, according to The Guardian, “A little after 9 p.m. this evening, the NYPD arrived on campus at the University’s request. This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community.”
{{/usCountry}}Confirming that it reached out to police to take action, Columbia said in a statement, according to The Guardian, “A little after 9 p.m. this evening, the NYPD arrived on campus at the University’s request. This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community.”
{{/usCountry}}“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation,” the statement added. We made the decision, early in the morning, that this was a law enforcement matter, and that the NYPD were best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response.”