Speaker 1: And it was a riot.
Speaker 2: That's the only way to describe what was happening at
Speaker 2: Columbia University, and a president at Columbia that protected and
Speaker 2: defended the rioters till the very bitter.
Speaker 1: End these outside agitators.
Speaker 2: Is now how the university's trying to describe them, when
Speaker 2: just days ago they were saying that they were students
Speaker 2: that had a right to protest. Now they're trying to
Speaker 2: distance themselves from these radicals. Charlie Hurt on Fox News
Speaker 2: Channel said this about the protesters at Columbia taking over buildings,
Speaker 2: breaking into the buildings. Here's what he said. It was
Speaker 2: a very interesting perspective riots.
Speaker 3: We were told they were mostly peaceful. Well, are they
Speaker 3: going to claim that this is peaceful tonight too. Are
Speaker 3: they going to say it's okay for students to take
Speaker 3: over an entire hall at a university the way they
Speaker 3: took it over violently last night.
Speaker 4: Well, let's be clear if these were Trump supporters shutting
Speaker 4: down an American campus, or these were Republican voters who
Speaker 4: were behaving like this on an American campus, hectoring students
Speaker 4: for their for their for their religion. This that none
Speaker 4: of this would be happening. This would all be wiped
Speaker 4: clean immediately. The FBI would be on the scene, everybody
Speaker 4: would be arrested and thrown under the jail.
Speaker 1: It would be a whole different scene.
Speaker 4: But of course, you know, I think the probably the
Speaker 4: most important thing that we will remember from history when
Speaker 4: we look back at this at this time is the
Speaker 4: degree to which Democrats, from Joe Biden all the way
Speaker 4: down to rogue local prosecutors have taken the Justice Department
Speaker 4: and taken the system of justice and used it as
Speaker 4: a political weapon to go after all of their political enemies.
Speaker 4: And in this case, of course, you know, Democrats are
Speaker 4: they made a deal with the devil. They're desperate to
Speaker 4: get these these urchins here, these loud mouse these punks.
Speaker 4: They're they're desperate to get them to vote for them.
Speaker 4: So they're they're they're in a real pickle and they
Speaker 4: don't know what to do. Obviously, you know, they should
Speaker 4: be charged to the fullest extent, just the way we
Speaker 4: all said should happen for January sixth, anybody that was trespassing,
Speaker 4: charging with trespassing.
Speaker 5: The problem is they went.
Speaker 4: So far beyond that in charging with all this other
Speaker 4: stuff for which there was no evidence whatsoever, and they've
Speaker 4: they've tortured, you know, what they put these people through
Speaker 4: is just astonishing.
Speaker 6: But the other thing I'd like to say is that
Speaker 6: you know, the Columbia University has a massive endowment, it's
Speaker 6: tax free. They they created the situation, they allowed this
Speaker 6: to happen. They I can only imagine what this operation
Speaker 6: is costing the tax payers of New York City. I
Speaker 6: hope that that Columbia University will be forced to pay
Speaker 6: NYPD for every dime of overtime of person now everything,
Speaker 6: every cost that they're having to spend for this should
Speaker 6: come right out of Columbia's endowment.
Speaker 2: By the way, he's right, and if Republicans, we're doing
Speaker 2: this of conservatives, if Magus supporters were there, if these
Speaker 2: were Trump supporters shutting down a campus, this will be
Speaker 2: it would be wiped clean immediately. The FBI would be
Speaker 2: on the scene and everybody would be arrested. The point
Speaker 2: that he's making there is spot on about this. It's
Speaker 2: not only that Elizabeth Warren, right, she's a radical on
Speaker 2: the left. She just went on MSNBC and she was
Speaker 2: asked about the campus protesters. You know what she said,
Speaker 2: She defended them saying this is freedom of speech.
Speaker 7: Listen, and Senator the Biden campaign certainly stressing that it
Speaker 7: was Trump appointed justices who did indeed overturn Roe v.
Speaker 5: Wade.
Speaker 7: Want to get your take on these campus protests we
Speaker 7: have that have consumed the news the last few days.
Speaker 7: Columbia University, a few schools out west and many in
Speaker 7: the heartland as well. Your thoughts on the appropriateness of
Speaker 7: what the administrations have done, whether what the police have done.
Speaker 5: And you know, as someone.
Speaker 7: Who has noted has a lot of progressive and support,
Speaker 7: are you concerned progressives that young voters are going to
Speaker 7: because of this issue, are going to break away from
Speaker 7: the president.
Speaker 8: I am grateful to live in a country where people
Speaker 8: can raise their voices, where they can make them heard
Speaker 8: by their elected officials. It's crucial that any efforts at
Speaker 8: protest be peaceful and that no individuals be attacked. No
Speaker 8: one should feel threatened. This is what open dialogue is about.
Speaker 8: But we need to keep the focus on what's happening
Speaker 8: in the Middle East, and we need to bring real
Speaker 8: pressure to bear here. Look, it is time for a ceasefire.
Speaker 1: It is a long pass by the way.
Speaker 2: You notice that she doesn't answer question, right, why I
Speaker 2: ask liberals a question where they have to actually and
Speaker 2: you notice that's called pandering.
Speaker 1: Why did she pander that way?
Speaker 2: Because she knows that she needs these people to vote
Speaker 2: for her extremist, radical views and she can't have Democrats
Speaker 2: not show up. So notice she doesn't condemn any of
Speaker 2: what's happening at Columbia University, taking over buildings, breaking into buildings, like,
Speaker 2: none of that is she going to condemn. And the
Speaker 2: reason why is very clear, and that is because the
Speaker 2: same reason why Joe Biden hadn't come out and condemned
Speaker 2: what's happening. Joe Biden has not come out and condemned
Speaker 2: any of this. Joe Biden has not come out and said, hey,
Speaker 2: this is wrong. Joe Biden has not said for these
Speaker 2: outside agitators to go home. He has not called for
Speaker 2: accountability of the students that were involved. He has not
Speaker 2: called for people from outside the country that are part
Speaker 2: of this to be held accountable for what they are doing.
Speaker 1: None of this. There's been zero.
Speaker 2: Accountability or calls for accountability from those that are involved.
Speaker 2: And that is part of the biggest problem here because
Speaker 2: they they are so afraid. Okay, they are terrified that
Speaker 2: young voters are not going to show up. And so
Speaker 2: that's exactly why I was with the Wards, like, well,
Speaker 2: we need to be this is about the ceasefire, right,
Speaker 2: It's about the ceasefire.
Speaker 1: And then she says this about freedom of speech.
Speaker 8: It's time for a ceasefire. But we need to be
Speaker 8: pushing on the parties to get that ceasefire. And we
Speaker 8: have got to open up for humanitarian aid. Literally thousands
Speaker 8: of people are on the brink of starvation. We've got
Speaker 8: to get that humanitarian aid. And it's time to get
Speaker 8: these hostages back home. They have been held for months
Speaker 8: and months and months. No one knows their medical condition.
Speaker 8: They've got to be brought back home. And then the
Speaker 8: biggest part, the United States must give a big shove
Speaker 8: to both parties to come to the negotiating table work
Speaker 8: out a two state solution where two people can live
Speaker 8: side by side with dignity, with self respect, with self determination.
Speaker 8: That's how we need to move forward.
Speaker 1: Kumbai.
Speaker 2: Yeah for you there by the way, the last thing
Speaker 2: you said, love that idea. How do you do that
Speaker 2: when you have people that are coming in as paragliders
Speaker 2: and cutting off the heads of infant children and baking
Speaker 2: them in ovens and kidnapping you. Like, I love the
Speaker 2: idea of living side by side.
Speaker 1: I really do.
Speaker 2: But I'm also not a moron, right, I'm not a
Speaker 2: I'm not an idiot. And I know what the other
Speaker 2: side did. I know what they did when they attacked.
Speaker 2: I know what they did, and they still have the
Speaker 2: hostages right now, months and months later, as she described.
Speaker 2: But she's like, but let's live side by side.
Speaker 1: I mentioned this.
Speaker 2: If you live next door to somebody and every six months,
Speaker 2: they just randomly, like you know, fire bombed your house,
Speaker 2: would you think that that's coexisting in a good way?
Speaker 2: Would you describe that as something a scenario that you
Speaker 2: could live with, Like if you're just randomly at your
Speaker 2: house and every six months somebody just started shooting at
Speaker 2: your house, would would you stay there and live in
Speaker 2: that scenario? Because that's what she's saying is coexisting looks
Speaker 2: like because they fire rockets indiscriminately on a regular basis
Speaker 2: into Israel, looking to kill anyone that they can kill,
Speaker 2: Like they're not there's not a target, Okay, it's just
Speaker 2: it's just killed somebody. Any any any dead Jew is
Speaker 2: a good Jew right, any any any Jew you can kill.
Speaker 2: That's what the quote other side, and she's like, well,
Speaker 2: we do see that they need define a two state
Speaker 2: solution where well, then don't have your government be run
Speaker 2: by terrists. There's an idea for you don't have a
Speaker 2: government that is actually run by terrorists. Mayor Adams, I
Speaker 2: love how they change their narratives so quickly. In New
Speaker 2: York City said quote, A substantial notumber of agitators have
Speaker 2: come from outside of Columbia. Wait, wait, well then, why
Speaker 2: did you guys say a couple of days ago that
Speaker 2: this was just freedom of speech and students on campus
Speaker 2: have a right to freedom of speech. What you knew
Speaker 2: it was outside agitators. You could find it online. They're
Speaker 2: paying people to be there. They're coming from Democrats, Democrats
Speaker 2: that are funding this, George Soros type people that are
Speaker 2: funding it. This is not hard, folks, this is incredibly simple.
Speaker 2: Take a listen to Mayor Adams now pointing the finger like, oh, well,
Speaker 2: this isn't really the students at Columbia, which, by the way,
Speaker 2: there was a ton of students involved. Don't think for
Speaker 2: a moment that I'm going to let them get away
Speaker 2: with this. Where They're like, oh, no, this is actually
Speaker 2: all outside people. Know what it was a ton of students.
Speaker 2: Yes they're outside agitators, but the students were absolutely leading
Speaker 2: this at Columbia.
Speaker 9: Listen, I just clarify the forty to fifty.
Speaker 4: Are they people that you.
Speaker 9: Know to be professional agitators you just refer to them
Speaker 9: as children? Are they students? So just so we know,
Speaker 9: how many of the people that you arrested last night
Speaker 9: were professional agitators who had no affiliation with Columbia University
Speaker 9: and how many of them were students who are at
Speaker 9: Columbia University.
Speaker 10: A great question, and we are sorting through that now.
Speaker 10: It has been indicated by Columbia when they reached out
Speaker 10: that the substantial substantial number were outside influences of you
Speaker 10: know you when you look at the wearing all black,
Speaker 10: covering your faces completely.
Speaker 5: Uh, those methodologies.
Speaker 10: You know, our intelligence divisions study this type of behavior
Speaker 10: across the globe. We just had a team that just
Speaker 10: returned from overseas looking at some of the methods that
Speaker 10: are being used with these actions. There's no coincidence that
Speaker 10: you're seeing these young people across the globe being trained
Speaker 10: with the same type of individuals.
Speaker 5: And that's what that is our concern.
Speaker 10: It's more than just Columbia, it's more than what we
Speaker 10: saw at City College.
Speaker 5: This needs to be a clarion call for our country.
Speaker 10: These are our children and we can't allow them to
Speaker 10: be radicalized like children are being radicalized across the globe.
Speaker 2: Hold on a second, So, so now you're saying that
Speaker 2: the students that you're arresting are are not actually students.
Speaker 2: You're saying they're radicals, they're being radicalized. But you let
Speaker 2: them do this for days on end because you were
Speaker 2: claiming it was the students and they had a right
Speaker 2: to free speech. I am so confused here on what's
Speaker 2: actually happening now, Like which one is it? Are they
Speaker 2: radicals that are students or are these outside agitators? Now
Speaker 2: the basically half of the student body at Columbia, more
Speaker 2: than half, actually.
Speaker 1: Are from overseas.
Speaker 2: They're foign students at Columbia. So is there going to
Speaker 2: be any repercussions for them if you come in and
Speaker 2: you're an outside agitator?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a fair question.
Speaker 2: I just want to know five three five ninety seven
Speaker 2: three two five three five ninety seven three two And
Speaker 2: of course they try to downplay the fact that they
Speaker 2: are like taking over buildings and total anarchy by saying
Speaker 2: their children right like their.
Speaker 1: Children and listen to this. He's challenged again about this.
Speaker 2: Here's another example of this BS ONMBC News.
Speaker 11: Just American Morning. Can you talk to the series of
Speaker 11: events yesterday that led Columbia to ask you and the
Speaker 11: NYPD to step in here and help out with the
Speaker 11: situation at Hamilton Hall. I know it was a last resort,
Speaker 11: probably for you, but also for the university. What brought
Speaker 11: you there.
Speaker 10: Really the team Commissioner Kban and his team. They were
Speaker 10: speaking with Columbia representatives and leadership as well as the
Speaker 10: other colleges, and it was clear after I was breathed,
Speaker 10: probably two days ago, the extent of the outside agitatus
Speaker 10: asked Columbia University indicated in the letter to us that
Speaker 10: we had to do something, and I really encouraged them
Speaker 10: to look at this for the safety of the students,
Speaker 10: for the facility.
Speaker 5: And then after.
Speaker 10: Breaking into Hamilton Hall, I think that the leadership at
Speaker 10: the school realized that we are concern was actually materializing
Speaker 10: and we had to really move in for the safety
Speaker 10: of those children's and do it in the right way,
Speaker 10: and I see the independent observers saw how the police
Speaker 10: department deploy and use precision tactics with minimum amount of
Speaker 10: force because these were children, to make sure that we
Speaker 10: could really eradicate the problem that we were seeing.
Speaker 2: So we could eradicate the problem we're seeing. So we
Speaker 2: went from it's not a problem to it's a problem,
Speaker 2: a problem that we have to eradicate, to then the
Speaker 2: university saying they need our help because their buildings are
Speaker 2: being in essence torched, and so now we've got a problem.
Speaker 2: We've got to eradicate the problem. But it's not the
Speaker 2: fault of the students, even though it's clearly the fault
Speaker 2: of the students on campus that allowed for this to happen.
Speaker 2: NBC News Joy saying this as they were going into
Speaker 2: the building that have been occupied by the protesters and
Speaker 2: some of them students. NBC News is Winter all right,
Speaker 2: saying this while it was happening.
Speaker 12: Listen carefully now on the phone is NBC News Tom Winter,
Speaker 12: who's been in touch with police as we're watching this
Speaker 12: unfold live on air, Tom, what can you tell us
Speaker 12: about how the police are approaching this situation and any
Speaker 12: directives or request they've gotten from Columbia University.
Speaker 13: Yeah. So, as NBC News was first to report about
Speaker 13: half an hour ago, Columbia University transmitted a letter to
Speaker 13: the City of New York authorizing the New York City
Speaker 13: Police Department and the city to enter its premises to
Speaker 13: make any sort of rest that they deem appropriate or
Speaker 13: a system in any way. Colomba University is obviously private
Speaker 13: property in the City of New York, So the PD
Speaker 13: just can't go on there for whatever reason just because
Speaker 13: they feel like it. They either needs to be a
Speaker 13: crime in progress or a complaint, or they need to
Speaker 13: be asked on for the uh, they need to be
Speaker 13: asked on. I want to point out a couple of
Speaker 13: things you've been looking at. If you're looking at a
Speaker 13: red flashing light on some of these officers, that's a
Speaker 13: body worn camera. You've got a number of different types
Speaker 13: of police officers that are going in on this specialty
Speaker 13: vehicle that the NYPD has. Primarily the initial officers that
Speaker 13: entered are part of the NPT's Emergency Services Unit. So
Speaker 13: there's a saying that when you know, when the rest
Speaker 13: of us need help, we call police. When the police
Speaker 13: need help, they call Emergency Services Unit, and so the
Speaker 13: officers that initially went in are part of the su
Speaker 13: The officers that are going in now you've seen some
Speaker 13: with cameras. They're there to document the arrests, to document
Speaker 13: evidence what they've seen inside. And they obviously have the
Speaker 13: flexi cuffs, they have the bulletproof vests and the ballistic
Speaker 13: helmets as well. So their job is to go in
Speaker 13: there the students. They are likely going to face, at
Speaker 13: a minimum, trespassing charges, burglary charges, potentially vandalism charges. And
Speaker 13: it's what's happening inside that hall Alex that has law
Speaker 13: enforcement so concerned. Primarily they're concerned that there's a group
Speaker 13: of anarchist type individuals who have no particular ideology. It's
Speaker 13: pro Palestine today, pro Israel tomorrow, pro another cause next week.
Speaker 13: But their main goal, police say, is to try to
Speaker 13: find a way to engage and engage in a violent
Speaker 13: way to fight police. And that's what has police so concerned.
Speaker 1: I love this.
Speaker 2: Now we're concerned about who they are, what they believe in.
Speaker 2: Before we were standing with solidarity. We think that they are.
Speaker 2: This is freedom of speech. We stand with them no
Speaker 2: matter what. But what hold on. So now that you're
Speaker 2: going in, now you say, well, we're concerned. They don't
Speaker 2: actually have an ideology, they're just anarchists, and so therefore
Speaker 2: it's okay to arrest them because they're just anarchists.
Speaker 1: Which one is it?
Speaker 2: The narrative changing very quickly on the campus of Columbia University.
Speaker 2: Early on, what it was was actually pretty simple. Early
Speaker 2: on they said it was students just you know, standing
Speaker 2: up for what they believe in, protesting against Jews, right,
Speaker 2: very normal, just not a big deal, standing up for
Speaker 2: what you believe in. And then the narrative changed drastically. Now,
Speaker 2: how did it change and why did it change? Is
Speaker 2: the question that we should all be asking the question
Speaker 2: about how it changes, because now what they need is
Speaker 2: a need for the narrative to change. They need the
Speaker 2: narrative to change drastically because the students have become radicals.
Speaker 2: The students have become pretty extreme. These students are now
Speaker 2: breaking into buildings, taking over the campus. So that's obviously
Speaker 2: a problem, right, like a pretty big problem.
Speaker 1: So listen again to.
Speaker 2: NBC News trying to change the narrative about these students.
Speaker 13: They have the bullet proofsts and the ballistic helmets as well.
Speaker 13: So their job is to go in there the students.
Speaker 13: They are likely to face, at a minimum, trespassing charges,
Speaker 13: burglary charges, potentially vandalism charges. And it's what's happening inside
Speaker 13: that hall, Alex that has law enforcement so concerned. Primarily,
Speaker 13: they're concerned that there's a group of anarchist type individuals
Speaker 13: who have no particular ideology. It's pro Palestine today, pro
Speaker 13: Israel tomorrow, pro another cause next week. But their main goal,
Speaker 13: police say, is to try to find a way to
Speaker 13: engage and engage in a violent way to fight police.
Speaker 13: And that's what has police so concerned because they're worried
Speaker 13: about the students that these individuals co opted. It's their
Speaker 13: belief and the word that they could get hurt, and
Speaker 13: they're certainly worried about the lives of their officers. So
Speaker 13: that's really the concern. That was the reason why you
Speaker 13: had the press conference earlier today, and that's why you've
Speaker 13: seen such an escalation over the last eight to twelve hours.
Speaker 13: And police is concerned about what's going on at Columbia University,
Speaker 13: so that's why you're seeing the response tonight.
Speaker 12: Tom Do they have any evidence that there are anarchists
Speaker 12: involved here or is that just kind of a general
Speaker 12: general concern. Just I'm looking at the police entering the
Speaker 12: hall from the window of Hamilton Hall from a ladder truck.
Speaker 12: It is a number of officers, and I'm just wondering whether
Speaker 12: they've given any sort of intelligence on how and why
Speaker 12: they believe there might be outside groups involved in this.
Speaker 13: Sure So, I spoke to the head of NYPD's Intelligence
Speaker 13: and counter Terrorism Program, get the Commissioner, Rebecca Winer, earlier tonight.
Speaker 13: Chilson was part of the press conference. They say they've
Speaker 13: uncovered evidence, and they've produced video and evidence that they've
Speaker 13: recovered through security cameras, through social media posts online from
Speaker 13: inside that hole, and they say they've identified a number
Speaker 13: of individuals that are well known to the MIPD over
Speaker 13: a number of years that they believe are definitely inside
Speaker 13: of there. They don't know the totality of the individuals
Speaker 13: that are inside.
Speaker 14: Of there, but they say they have hard evidence that
Speaker 14: these people are there. Time will tell you see who's
Speaker 14: rust and we'll see what comes on in there, We'll
Speaker 14: see what images we see. We'll always report and our
Speaker 14: job and the o IPD understands this is too. We
Speaker 14: never take anybody's word to face value.
Speaker 13: But knowing the people and the type of investigators involved,
Speaker 13: they do have a really good handle on these groups,
Speaker 13: and so they absolutely believe this is not a theory.
Speaker 13: They say they have hard evidence if that's the case,
Speaker 13: and that's why they're so concerned about this whole and
Speaker 13: that's why they were so concerned about the developments there today.
Speaker 12: All right, well, they are certainly responding based on non
Speaker 12: intelligence right now, NBC, I love this.
Speaker 2: Right good, Yeah, they're responding. Okay, Well, now that we
Speaker 2: know that it's not actually the students, we're going to
Speaker 2: change the narrative completely.
Speaker 1: And now that we think.
Speaker 2: It's not students, well then now you can go in
Speaker 2: there and you can shut them down. Now it's now
Speaker 2: it's totally fine to do this. Right where's the president
Speaker 2: on all this, Congressman Eagles asking that question.
Speaker 15: Well, we haven't heard a word from President Biden. I
Speaker 15: know that the White House said that they are condemning
Speaker 15: anti Semitism, but we have yet to hear from the
Speaker 15: President on any of this. What do you think the
Speaker 15: president can do in the face of this, Well, you know, actually.
Speaker 5: Speak louder than words.
Speaker 16: You know, it would be great if he would speak
Speaker 16: firmly to these university presidents to say enough is enough. Look,
Speaker 16: if this was a Christian group, if this was a
Speaker 16: conservative group.
Speaker 5: They would be shut down immediately.
Speaker 16: But because these are liberals, and because it's anti Semitic,
Speaker 16: nothing being done about it. And so we've got to
Speaker 16: defend our ally Israel. Look, they were attacked on October seventh.
Speaker 16: And if you're defending Hamas, you're defending the rape of children,
Speaker 16: and that obviously is unconscionable.
Speaker 2: That's your you know, double standard standard we talk about
Speaker 2: all the time. Happens over and over again. Alan Dershowitz
Speaker 2: saying this about the students that are involved.
Speaker 3: Listen, Professor Dershowitz, it never should have been able to
Speaker 3: get to this point. And you know, having taught at Harvard,
Speaker 3: you saw what happened. The American flag taken down, the
Speaker 3: Palestinian flag put up in Harvard Yard. I'm sure that
Speaker 3: breaks your heart. But you know, we got to tip
Speaker 3: our hat to law enforcement tonight.
Speaker 17: Oh absolutely, and we have to boom for every one
Speaker 17: of these students.
Speaker 5: Not a single one of them knows they want to
Speaker 5: cease fire.
Speaker 17: That as Secretary of State, Lincoln said today, the only
Speaker 17: thing that stands between a ceasefire and the citizens of
Speaker 17: Gaza is Hamas Israel law for the genuine ceasefire generousies fire.
Speaker 5: Hamas has turned it down.
Speaker 17: But I want to announce that since I said I
Speaker 17: wanted to bring a lawsuit against these individuals who have
Speaker 17: been harassing and threatening Jewish students, I've gotten more than
Speaker 17: a dozen volunteer lawyers agreeing to bring the lawsuits. But
Speaker 17: now we need help from your audience. We need to
Speaker 17: know the names of the people who have harassed and
Speaker 17: threatened Jews. I want students at Columbia who know their
Speaker 17: names to be in touch with me so that we
Speaker 17: can file lawsuits against them. The one good thing about
Speaker 17: them being arrested, even if they're freed, we will learn
Speaker 17: their names and we will sue every one of them,
Speaker 17: and the district attorney can't stop us from doing that.
Speaker 17: Civil suits are within our control, not within the control
Speaker 17: of the police department. So we have a job to do.
Speaker 17: I'm on top of it. Me thank you lawyers for
Speaker 17: calling me in volunteering. Now we need the names of
Speaker 17: the evildoers so they can be held responsible.
Speaker 2: I gotta say I like Dershowitz on this one. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of lawyers that are volunteering now, saying give
Speaker 2: us their names and let's go like I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: give us like, let's go, let's go. The left with
Speaker 2: no choice. Columbia releases statement claiming protesters were led by
Speaker 2: individuals who are not affiliated with the university, saying we
Speaker 2: regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through
Speaker 2: their actions. That is a statement that came out from
Speaker 2: the university saying we are left with no choice.
Speaker 12: A little after nine pm this evening, the NYPD arrived
Speaker 12: on campus at the university's request. This decision was made
Speaker 12: to restore safety in order to our community. We regret
Speaker 12: that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions.
Speaker 12: After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized,
Speaker 12: and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia Public
Speaker 12: safety personnel were forced out of the building and a
Speaker 12: member of our facility's team was threatened. We will not
Speaker 12: risk the safety of our community or the potential for
Speaker 12: further escalation. The leadership team, including the Board of trustees,
Speaker 12: met throughout the night and into the early morning, consulting
Speaker 12: with security experts and law enforcement to determine the best
Speaker 12: plan to protect our students in the entire Columbia University community.
Speaker 12: We made the decision early in the morning that this
Speaker 12: was a law enforcement matter and that the NYPD were
Speaker 12: best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response. This
Speaker 12: is interesting. We believe that the group that broke into
Speaker 12: and occupied the building is led by individuals who are
Speaker 12: not affiliated with the university. Sadly, this dangerous decision followed
Speaker 12: more than a week of what had been productive discussions
Speaker 12: with representatives of the West Lawn Encampment. It goes on
Speaker 12: to talk about the security precautions that they're taking on campus,
Speaker 12: and they are making clear that the life of campus
Speaker 12: cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, but like the leaf that embraces this, now
Speaker 2: having to deal with it when it turns on them.
Speaker 2: And if you think these protests are over, you're wrong.
Speaker 2: Like it's going to keep popping up. It's going to
Speaker 2: keep happening, so just get ready for it. They're not
Speaker 2: done yet. There's still too much SOROWS money out there
Speaker 2: to be spent, and too many agitators that are willing
Speaker 2: to take paychecks, So get ready, folks, this is not
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