May 1, 2024
Mayor Adams and NYPD leadership held a news briefing this morning following last night’s mass arrests at City College and Columbia University. Protests over the war in Gaza have been underway at Columbia for weeks, and tents on the campus that remained standing after an NYPD sweep last week were taken down last night. Hamilton Hall was broken into and occupied by protesters leading up to last night’s clearing operation. Similar crackdowns occurred yesterday at other college campuses across the country.
Screencap via NYPD News.
Adams cited three major rationales for the operation: Columbia University had requested police intervention in writing, the alleged presence of outside agitators on campus, and antisemitism. Almost 300 people were taken into custody at the two locations and NYPD Chief John Chell said the department would have more information later today about the breakdown of students/outside agitators. Adams defended use of the term “outside agitators” which, he acknowledged, was often used against Civil Rights activists in the past.
Screencaps of police video via NYPD News.
The arrests mainly took place without incident and that was because of the professionalism of the police, according to NYPD. DC Rebecca Weiner said “this isn’t about students expressing ideas. It is about a change in tactics that present a concern, and the normalization and mainstreaming of rhetoric associated with terrorism…you see people wearing headbands associated with foreign terrorists.”
Adams said, “there’s nothing peaceful about barricaded buildings, destroying property, and dismantling security cameras.” An NYPD video of the operation was part of the briefing. A reporter asked about the Department’s decision to restrict press access. Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Tarik Sheppard said media could have made prior arrangements and DC of Operations Kaz Daughtry added that, in his opinion, during a prior operation at NYU the media got in the way of NYPD efforts.
The Gazette can confirm that access was restricted beyond the NYPD’s typical concerns for evidence preservation, crowd control, and public safety that normally apply to breaking news events. Broadway was sealed off to everyone, including credentialed press, between West 113th Street and West 120th. The Broadway local was skipping the 116 Street station and no busses were seen operating across that stretch. Food delivery personnel on bikes were turned away at the bike rack barricades on the corner of Broadway and West 120th street.
A group of elected officials, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, visited the campus last week and called for funding cuts for colleges participating in Gaza protests and for the resignation of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik. Johnson called the protests “chaos” and cited flag waving and chants in declaring “this is not the free exchange of ideas. They are chanting ‘Death to America,’ they are waving Hamas flags, vicious terrorists, they cooked infant children in ovens. They are siding with them.”
Flag waving, wearing headbands and chanting are protected activities under the U.S. Constitution’s 1st Amendment.