Demonstration at Columbia University: Freshman expresses concerns about lack of safety

() A first-year Columbia University student said he doesn’t feel safe on campus as pro-Palestinian protests continue.

The student, Noam W., joined “ Live” on Monday. He asked to withhold his full last name, citing security concerns.

“It’s very tense,” he said. “I don’t personally feel safe on campus.”

There have not been any credible threats made to particular groups or individuals coming from the encampment protests, the New York Police Department said.

Columbia University canceled in-person classes Monday. Protesters rallied throughout the weekend at the Ivy League school’s New York City campus. Police last week arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had set up an encampment.

“These are violent mobsters who have a lot of rage in them. They want to intimidate Jewish students. They’ve been doing it for the past week, and as a result, Jewish students are now packing up and leaving campus,” Noam W. said.

Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine released a statement Sunday expressing frustration over the news media’s coverage, which they said has focused on “inflammatory individuals who do not represent us.”

“Our members have been misidentified by a politically motivated mob,” the statement read. “We have been doxed in the pres, arrested by the NYPD, and locked out of our homes by the University. We have knowingly put ourselves in danger because we can no longer be complicit in Columbia funneling our tuition dollars and grant funding into companies that profit from death.”

Columbia is just one of the campuses where protests are growing as Israel’s war in Gaza intensifies. Similar demonstrations are taking place at the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University.

Yale police officers arrested at least 45 people Monday morning after officials said demonstrators refused to leave.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.