Protests against Israel on New York City campuses have led to the arrests of hundreds of individuals, with nearly half of them confirmed to be outsiders not affiliated with the schools, neither as students nor staff.
During a press conference on May 1st, Mayor Adams and the city’s police department disclosed preliminary information regarding the arrests and investigations. It was revealed that 282 people were arrested during intense protests at Columbia University and the City College of New York, with 134 of them having no ties to either institution, representing over 47% of the total. Among those arrested at Columbia University, 32 had no affiliation with the school, while 80 did; at City College, 102 were unrelated to the school, while 68 were affiliated.
On the same day, the President of New York University (NYU) also announced that out of the 133 individuals detained during a protest at Gould Plaza outside the NYU Stern School of Business on April 22, only 65 were students or staff of NYU, indicating that over half of the arrested individuals had no association with the university.
Mayor Adams referred to these protest participants with no school affiliation as “external agitators,” describing them as individuals who should not have been present on the campuses, with some being “professionals” who had received “training.” The police department is currently investigating the role played by these “external agitators” at Columbia University’s protests and whether they were the ones suggesting the occupation of Hamilton Hall or providing occupation tactics.
The focus of the New York City Police Department’s investigation is on 68-year-old Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian born in Kuwait, who had studied and taught in the United States before being designated a terrorist by the U.S. and deported to Turkey in 2015. However, he posted a photo on social media of his wife at the Columbia University protest camp, leading Mayor Adams to point out the evidence of “training” and a shift in “tactics.”
Despite Mayor Adams’ accusations against the “external agitators,” he has not been willing to disclose the identities of the arrestees, stating in an interview with CNN on May 2 that the complete list of arrestees would be provided to the schools for them to make decisions. The City, a municipal news site, criticized the lack of convincing evidence from the police department regarding who were students and who were not among the arrested individuals.
During an interview with Fox News on May 2, Mayor Adams also suggested private universities like Columbia should bear the cost of clearing protests on campuses. He did not specify the exact expenses but mentioned that apart from the clearing cost, there would also be additional expenses such as police overtime.
Nine bipartisan city council members, led by Ariola, Borelli, and Holden, wrote a letter to Columbia University on May 1, stating that the university should bear the cost of cleaning up the chaos caused by the protests, rather than passing the bill to taxpayers. The letter highlighted that Columbia University has an annual tuition exceeding $68,000 and a donation fund of $13.6 billion, making it more than capable of covering the expenses. Additionally, Columbia University was urged to continue funding campus security patrols.
While protests in New York City have subsided, demonstrations at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus in New Jersey continue to unfold. In response, the university announced the postponement of final exams and other activities scheduled for May 2 due to the escalating protest situation, moving them to May 8.
Although protests at Columbia University have been dispersed by law enforcement, President Minouche Shafik has requested police to remain on campus until May 17 to prevent further disruptions.