Earlier this month, Columbia University President Nemat Shafik testified before Congress, and she promised to crack down on campus anti-Semitism. On the spot, she committed to revoking a position from a pro-Hamas professor.
Soon, Shafik faced a test. She returned to campus to find her students pitching tents in the middle of the university’s campus and declaring themselves an anti-Israel encampment. For the first time in decades, the university president called the NYPD, complete with riot gear.
Self-declared socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t happy.
“Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
She didn’t stop there.
Ocasio-Cortez went on to condemn the “wall-to-wall coverage to campus protests.”
“Not only did Columbia make the horrific decision to mobilize NYPD on their own students, but the units called in have some of the most violent reputations on the force,” Ocasio-Cortez alleged. “So why are these counterterror units here?”
John Chell, the NYPD’s chief of patrol had something to say.
“Good SAT scores and self-entitlement do not supersede the law. I am sure you would agree that we have to teach them these valuable life skills,” Chell said, turning left-wing sloganeering about privilege on its head. “Columbia decided to hold its students accountable… They are seeing the consequences of their actions. Something these kids were most likely never taught.”
Columbia charges students $65,000 per year in tuition fees, and Gaza is currently suffering a hunger crisis.
Chell added that the NYPD had yet to receive any incident reports.
“I was with those ‘units’ last Thursday that you describe as having, ‘the most violent reputations,'” Chell told Ocasio-Cortez. “These ‘units’ removed students with great care and professionalism, not a single incident was reported.”
In the NYPD’s view, if these students can’t do the time, then they shouldn’t do the crime. The NYPD described its mission as restoring order, not committing acts of brutality.
Ocasio-Cortez represents a congressional district anchored in the Bronx, miles away from Columbia’s campus. The university is represented by Jerry Nadler, the only Jewish person to represent New York City in the House. The university also maintains a dual-degree program in Tel Aviv.
Take a look —
Calling in police enforcement on nonviolent demonstrations of young students on campus is an escalatory, reckless, and dangerous act.
It represents a heinous failure of leadership that puts people’s lives at risk. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 24, 2024
Truly amazing! Columbia decided to hold its students accountable to the laws of the school. They are seeing the consequences of their actions. Something these kids were most likely never taught. Good SAT scores and self-entitlement do not supersede the law. I am sure you would… https://t.co/zKQbjklzks
— NYPD Chief of Patrol (@NYPDChiefPatrol) April 25, 2024
How are news outlets dedicating wall-to-wall coverage to campus protests, but not the discovery of mass graves in Gaza of people with their hands tied & clothing stripped?
Why do we not know more?
Where are the journalists and resources being dedicated to that story? https://t.co/2LV1XsPmx3
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 23, 2024
Shafik is facing calls to resign. She failed in her attempt to disperse the encampment, which is now reforming even after her call to the police.
In a stroke of luck, Shafik dodged last year’s congressional hearing with former Harvard University President Claudine Gay. At the time, Shafik was honoring a prior commitment, a trip overseas.
Shafik eventually testified earlier this month, and she clearly studied Gay’s testimony. Unlike Gay, Shafik described calling for the genocide of Jews as a violation of university policy.
She also committed to revoking the department chairmanship of Middle Eastern Studies professor Joseph Massad.
Massad has been accused of describing October’s Hamas attack as “awesome.”
The Horn editorial team