Jewish students applaud removal of anti-Israel protesters from Columbia University encampment
NY Post
Jewish students at Columbia University applauded the removal of anti-Israel protesters who were camping out in tents on campus Thursday – claiming the unruly demonstration made them fear for their safety.
“It makes me feel safer. It makes me feel like the administration is finally implementing their policies and the truth is, today of all days, it looks like everyone who supports their cause — the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas cause — came out of the crevices and it’s a lot of people,” sophomore Jonny Lederer told The Post.
Cops decked out in riot gear moved in and arrested more than 100 protesters Thursday after Columbia president Minouche Shafik gave the green light for cops to clear the encampment from the Upper West Side campus.
Some of the arrested protesters even had to be carried away to waiting NYPD corrections buses.
Lederer said some of the protesters berated cops as the tense situation unfolded.
“You need the police. The police were very peaceful,” he said. “They simply asked them, ‘Are you going to leave?’ They said no, and the individuals in the encampment wanted to make a statement … so be it. The cops said ‘You are going to be arrested’ and they said ‘OK’. They took them and detained them and removed them from the campus.
