NYPD brass and Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday blamed outside agitators for the illegal takeover of an academic building at Columbia University as officials urged the Ivy League student protesters to call it quits.
NYPD brass and Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday blamed outside agitators for the illegal takeover of an academic building at Columbia University as officials urged the Ivy League student protesters to call it quits.
“This is to serve their own agenda,” Adams said of the outside group at a Tuesday press conference. “They’re not here to promote peace, unity, allow a peaceful display in one voice, but they are here to create discord and divisiveness.”
“We cannot and will not allow what should be a peaceful gathering to turn into a violent spectacle that serves no purpose. We cannot wait until this situation becomes even more serious,” the mayor said.
The NYPD’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism unit first realized they were dealing with the antagonistic mob when dozens of agitators stormed into Hamilton Hall in the middle of the night Tuesday — a significant escalation of the anti-Israel student encampment protest.
“We are seeing the tactics changing in a way that is endangering public safety,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. “These once-peaceful protests are being exploited by professional outside agitators. The safety of all students, faculty, and staff are now a concern.”
The group early Tuesday violently broke into the building — which they dubbed “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in the Middle Eastern conflict — and used metal barricades, tables, chairs and other materials to seal themselves inside.
