The #NYPD in particular, and #cops in general, are such fucking clowns.
They're claiming the thick chains protestors at #Columbia used when occupying a building are proof that the protesters weren't real students.
In fact, not only are those chains widely used by students all over the city... Columbia itself sells them to students.
Don't fall for the NYPD's attempts to manufacture consent for violently attacking peaceful protesters. #StudentSpring#politics#ACAB
Ref: https://www.404media.co/email/1cc25606-201a-4f10-87ce-aeefa8285c3f/
"A handful of powerful businessmen pushed New York City Mayor Eric Adams to use police to crack down on pro-Palestinian student protesters at #Columbia University, donating to the politician and offering to pay for private investigators to help break up the demonstrations, based on leaked WhatsApp conversations"
From my oldest, at Virginia Commonwealth University where students were pepper sprayed last night. Remember this is the generation that experienced school shootings and feels abandoned by the adults and systems. #students#protests#columbia#Gaza
A Jewish student at #Columbia: "This crackdown was the most violence inflicted on our student body in decades. I implore you, as our Jewish Voice for Peace chapter does, to consider whether arresting Jewish students keeps us and Columbia safe.
Gregory Pflugfelder had just finished the final class of his career at Columbia. In 28 years at the university, he achieved many accolades as a professor of history who taught a popular course on Japanese monsters – mostly focused on Godzilla and "the role of the monstrous in the cultural imagination."...
« #Columbia University Apartheid Divest—a coalition of over 100 student groups revitalized after the University suspended its chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace—brought the referendum to the council. ...that Columbia divest from “all stocks, funds, and endowment and refrain from further investment in companies profiting from or engaging in Israeli apartheid”»
Columbia University Deals With Revelations About Its Decades-Long Failure to Stop a Predator
Medical students have protested and survivors have expressed outrage following ProPublica’s investigation into how Columbia ignored warnings that former OB-GYN Robert Hadden was abusing patients.
"In the middle of the quad, students had set up a snack table—complete with a “nut zone” to accommodate their peers with allergies—that also had sunscreen, water bottles, and ibuprofen available.
I've heard from 2 college students who went to events that were billed as "student rallies" ("for peace" and "supporting #Palestine," respectively), but turned out to be led by violent radicals who weren't affiliated with their schools.
This "United for #Israel" march at #Columbia was organized by 3 right-wing Christian nationalist extremists who are not Israeli, not Jewish, and not Columbia-affiliated.
We're all being played. Think about who gains from this. They are destroying us.
When I was an undergraduate at #Columbia, students also occupied Hamilton Hall. The administration didn’t call in NYPD and we didn’t have the shitshow that’s playing out on campus now. Hard to imagine giving money to Columbia after this.
In an interview I just taped with Rashid Khalidi about #Columbia he said words to the effect of "this is the neoliberal dream of the university--no students, no professors, just administrators and cops on campus"
"It is never appropriate to call in armed police to arrest peaceful student demonstrators....
The faculty of Columbia University has every right – and, in my view, a duty – to protect peaceful free expression at #Columbia with a vote of no confidence in Shafik’s leadership and seek to have her presidency terminated"
#Columbia Scolds Students for “Unsanctioned” #GazaRally Where They Were Attacked With Chemicals
Two people reportedly sprayed an odious chemical at protesters, leaving students with burning eyes, nausea, and chest pain.
by Prem Thakker
January 22 2024
"University responded to reports of students being injured by a chemical attack against an on-campus rally for Gaza by chiding students for holding protests without official authorization. Meanwhile, students told The Intercept that even as the school’s public safety department has said it is investigating the incident, school administrators themselves have yet to contact the victims — some of whom have had to seek medical care for their injuries.
"During a rally on Friday, according to attendees, two individuals sprayed a hazardous chemical that released an odious smell. Dozens of students have reported an array of symptoms, such as burning eyes, nausea, headaches, abdominal and chest pain, and vomiting.
"The campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine publicized the incident on Saturday morning, identifying the substance as 'skunk,' a chemical weapon used by the Israel Defense Forces against Palestinians and one that U.S. #police departments have reportedly acquired in the past. SJP also alleged that the assailants have ties to the Israel Defense Forces, a claim that The Intercept could not independently confirm.
"#RashidKhalidi, a renowned #PalestinianAmerican historian who teaches at Columbia, said that university administrators should respect the student protesters’ motivations. 'For a lot of young people, this is one of the most significant events, worst #HumanitarianCrises, certainly in their lifetimes,' said Khalidi. 'And many of them have a strong sense of justice and see injustice. I think university administrators — whatever alumni and whatever donors and whatever trustees are telling them, and whatever the politicians are saying, and whatever the media bias leans towards — I think they have to respect that that’s what’s driving a lot of these students: a strong sense of injustice.'"
“The next night, on Tuesday, the 64-year-old silver-haired scholar stepped outside his apartment building, located off campus across the street from Columbia. He wanted to record iPhone video of hundreds of #police responding to historic student protests against #Israel’s war in #Gaza. Fifteen minutes later, the #NYPD arrested him ….
But Pflugfelder was never on campus ….
Pflugfelder's arrest … is among the first of 282 people put in custody at or near #Columbia”
This morning, students at #Columbia University picketed outside the homes of three trustees.
At two of the three locations, random harassers suckerpunched student picketers. At one, a car drove into a student. NYPD arrested the victim.
The attacker is Reuven Kahane, a cousin of Meir Kahane, the late fascist founder of the JDL and the murderous #Kahanist movement in occupied Palestine
Student picketer who was struck by Kahane this morning was detained and is in the hospital, handcuffed to a bed, awaiting x-rays. Early reports of a wrist injury.
Columbia University president says negotiations with pro-Palestinian protesters have stalled, school will not divest from Israel.
NBC News reports: "Columbia was the first elite institution [in the U.S.] struck by protests in support of the Palestinian cause, with students demanding that the school divest from investments in weapons manufacturing and that support Israel amid the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, in which more than 34,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip. Protests spread quickly last week on campuses from coast to coast, resulting in mass arrests and crackdowns."
A Columbia professor wanted to document history. NYPD arrested him outside his home (www.usatoday.com)
Gregory Pflugfelder had just finished the final class of his career at Columbia. In 28 years at the university, he achieved many accolades as a professor of history who taught a popular course on Japanese monsters – mostly focused on Godzilla and "the role of the monstrous in the cultural imagination."...