The police arrested Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter with over 100 protesters who were also issued summons for trespass. According to reports, authorities detained the protesters after they set up an encampment at New York’s Columbia University in support of Gaza.
Following the arrests on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Mayor Eric Adams spoke about the incident. Adams claimed the demonstrators occupied the space on the university’s South Lawn for 30 hours. Police said Columbia asked the NYPD for help and that the students had been suspended and refused to leave.
“Columbia University’s students have a proud history of protests and raising their voices,” Adams said. However, he said they don’t have the right to violate university policies. “We will not be a city of lawlessness,” Adams said.
Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, 21, who attends neighboring Barnard College in Manhattan, took to X to explain what happened. She wrote on X that they suspended her for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” along with at least two other students.
ALSO READ: US Capitol Police Arrests Pro-Palestinian Protesters Inside Cannon House Office Building
Hirsi is an organizer with a student group that advocates for Palestinians. She noted that it was her first time facing punishment as a New York City school student activist. “Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated,” she wrote.
The police say they arrested more than 108 protesters. According to reports, they also charged two of those people with obstruction of governmental administration. Following the arrest, NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said the arrested students were peaceful and did not resist.
Also, he said they were “saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner.” However, he noted that around 500 other students left class and surrounded the quad “and were telling us that we’re the KKK,” among other insults, Caban said.
Footage from the scene shows crowds chanting “Shame on you!” but does not capture the entire incident. Columbia University’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, said in a memo to police Thursday that over 100 people occupied the area.
POLL—Is Systemic Racism a Significant Problem That Requires Reform in Policing and Other Areas?
The memo said, “I have determined that the disruptions pose a danger to the substantial functioning of the University.” Furthermore, Shafik said the demonstrators were trespassing, refusing to disperse, and damaging campus property, among other violations.
In a statement, Shafik said she authorized police to clear the encampment “out of an abundance of concern.” By late Thursday afternoon, police had disassembled the original tent encampment. However, protesters began building a new one on an adjacent lawn.
Before the suspension and subsequent arrests, the school said its staff identified the students at the encampment. The school then told them to leave or face sanctions. As a result, the university said it placed those still there Thursday on interim suspension.
However, the school did not say how many students it suspended or confirm that Hirsi was among them. It also did not say how long the suspension would last but said it would continue to suspend students who stayed. “Now and always, we prioritize our students’ learning and living in an inclusive environment free from harassment,” the school said.
ALSO READ: NYC Police Arrest Over 300 Pro-Palestinian Protesters for Blocking Traffic
Following the incident, Rep. Ilhan Omar did not comment on her daughter’s arrest. The Democrat, who represents Minnesota, is a Somali refugee. She made history as one of the first two Muslim-American women elected to Congress.
Omar questioned Shafik about protests on campus during a congressional hearing in which Shafik strongly denounced antisemitism. “There has been a recent attack on the democratic rights of students across the country,” Omar said.
Tensions over free speech have erupted in some US college campuses since the Israel-Hamas war started in October 2023. The University of Southern California recently canceled a Muslim student’s valedictorian speech out of security concerns.
You Might Also Like:
Tesla Announces Plan to Lay Off Over 10% of Workforce
Google CEO Pichai Calls for Reset After Company Fired Activists
Audit Reveals Sarah Sanders’ Office Potentially Broke the Law in $19k Lectern Controversy
Cornel West Announces BLM Activist Melina Abdullah as His Vice President
