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Columbia University’s spokesperson rejected allegations of enlisting the National Guard to handle pro-Palestine protests on campus, labeling them as false and lacking evidence.
Recent reports suggest that protesters have accused the university of threatening to bring in the National Guard to deal with the ongoing demonstrations that started last week.
Ben Chang, the Vice President of Communications at the university, refuted the claims in a statement to the media on Wednesday, stating, “I want to make it clear: those reports are inaccurate and have no validation.”
The university reaffirmed that it protesters last night that they will continue conversations for the next 48 hours after the group ignored a midnight deadline to vacate the West Lawns.
He did say, however, that the protests as things stand are in violation of university rules and that only people with a university ID will be allowed on campus going forward.
A spokesperson for Columbia University slammed ‘untrue and unsubstantiated’ claims that the Ivy League institution has called in the National Guard on pro-Palestine encampments on campus
‘The safety of our community is our number one priority,’ Chang added. ‘That includes the safety of the Encampment, which continues to grow.’
‘Our goal is to restore order and if we can get there through dialogue, we will,’ he continued. The pro-Palestine mob has held the school hostage and their Jewish classmates in fear since they began setting up tents outdoors on campus.
He also confirmed that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik met with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and other members of Congress Tuesday afternoon.
Johnson waded into hostile scenes at Columbia University as the Republican confronted a mass of anti-Israel protestors on Wednesday.
He brushed off the boos and jeers of students and instead condemned the protest, the latest in the ‘virus of antisemitism’.
He slammed the crowds in Columbia as being ‘lawless agitators and radicals’ and questioned their ability to become ‘leaders of America’ – as he praised the Jewish students who remain committed to their education.
‘We will not be silent while Jewish students are expected to run for their lives,’ Johnson warned.
The crowd yelled and jeered in an attempt to rattle him but Johnson was unperturbed.
A spokesperson confirmed that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik met with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and other members of Congress Tuesday afternoon
‘Enjoy your free speech!’ he replied as he left before issuing one final slap down: ‘Stop wasting your parents money’.
The Louisiana lawmaker arrived at the New York campus on Wednesday afternoon, hours after he called for the Columbia president to resign on a morning radio show.
‘What we’re seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable,’ Johnson told The Hugh Hewitt Show.
‘Every leader in this country, every political official, every citizen of good conscience has to speak out and say that this is not who we are in America, and we have got to have accountability.’
So far, more than 100 activists have been arrested, with protesters ordered to disperse.
On Tuesday night, it was reported that NYPD counterterrorism officers were mobilizing close to the protest.
At least two Republican senators, Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton, called on President Joe Biden to bring in the National Guard to campuses nationwide were Jewish students claim they feel threatened by the growing number of protests.
Missouri Senator Hawley told the president that he must act on his Passover statement in which he said: ‘We’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous.’
‘You must immediately mobilize the National Guard and any other authorities necessary to ensure the safety of Jewish American students and citizens,’ Hawley wrote.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said that the authorities will continue to detain protesters.
‘Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses,’ he wrote on social media.
‘These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.’
This is a breaking news story.
