Columbia says it suspended some masked anti-Israel student rioters who trashed campus library: ‘Need to see serious consequences'

Yahoo

12-05-2025

Columbia University students and Jewish advocates called on the Ivy League school Thursday to crack down on the scores of anti-Israel rioters who took part in a violent takeover of a campus library.
The elite Morningside Heights school has already handed down at least 65 interim suspensions to students who were part of Wednesday's Butler Library chaos pending further investigation, a school official told The Post.
Another 33 individuals, including those from affiliated institutions, and an unspecified number of alumni were also barred from campus, the official said as Columbia faced pressure to take strong action against the agitators.
'What happens the day after? We need to see serious consequences,' Joseph Postasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis told The Post, calling for 'some Old Testament' justice.
'This happened during preparation for final exams — they don't qualify as serious students,' he said of the rioters. 'There should be harsh consequences — people were assaulted. Columbia needs to come down hard or this activity will happen again and again.'
Postasnik's sentiment was echoed by the Columbia Jewish Alumni Association, which said it was 'dismayed at the violence, destruction of property and antisemitic acts by protesters' at the library, while still thanking the school for calling in the cops.
'We look forward to Columbia holding these students accountable for their actions so that the 99% of Jewish and non-Jewish students can do what they pay for — focus on learning.'
Officials vowed that any student or staff member who broke Columbia's rules could expect to be held accountable.
'We will use the full scope of our disciplinary system, and have already suspended students involved,' it warned.
Dozens of masked thugs stormed the campus library in the afternoon as students studied there. The protesters committed acts of vandalism and injured two campus security guards in the melee, prompting the school to call in the NYPD hours later, administrators said.
While the NYPD arrested 81 rioters at Butler Library, the latest numbers of protesters suspended or barred from campus suggest many more rabble-rousers were involved.
In all, 62 women and 19 men were cuffed by NYPD cops and have since been released with tickets or summonses for trespassing or criminal mischief, law-enforcement sources said. Their identities were not released.
Four summonses were also issued to rowdy participants by Special Patrol Officers at the school, officials said.
Acting Columbia University president Claire Shipman put out a video statement Thursday morning condemning the 'substantial chaos' caused by the mob, and hinting that 'the disciplinary proceedings will reflect the severity of the actions,' but did not give further specifics.
Shipman said the disruptive protest forced some 900 students from the library reading room, many of whom left their belongings behind in the chaos.
She condemned the rioters for intruding on hard-working pupils whose studies were interrupted.
'It's a big shame and a big offense to students who are trying to study for the finals. It's an unbelievably considerate disruption that does frankly nothing for their cause,' agreed Natan Rosenbaum, 22, a junior studying American Studies.
He called the library break-in 'completely inexcusable.'
'This is nothing more than sowing chaos and anarchy and I'm glad it was shut down,' he told The Post Thursday, praising Shipman for having the cops bust up the demonstration.
Elisha Baker, also a junior, called the mob's actions 'outrageous and unacceptable,' and said he was grateful for Columbia Public Safety officers holding the ground, despite being far outnumbered.
'I am looking forward to seeing any students involved disciplined for their behavior. There is no place for those actions on a college campus,' he said.
Although it was quiet on the Morningside Heights campus a day after the violent episode, Matan Barak, 22, an Israel Defense Forces soldier on vacation, said he feared further escalation was still possible.
'What are they waiting for? For something worse to happen?' he said of the university administration.
As for the protesters' frequently repeated refrain of 'free Palestine,' Barak said, 'If you have never been in Israel, how could you cheer on a team you've never been to? If you've never seen a basketball game, how could you cheer a team you don't know?'
He was incredulous that the students involved in the riot were allowed to remain on the rolls.
'Why do they still have people that go to school here that want to kill Jews? That's what they want to do,' he said.
Columbia stressed it was quick to act when the mob stormed the library and was in line with protocols put in place in recent months.
Columbia has been locked in tense negotiations with the Trump administration over demands it take meaningful action to curb antisemitism on campus — which has erupted in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks that killed over 1,200 people.
President Trump threatened to yank around $400 million in federal funding if the school failed to comply, and in March Columbia agreed to adhere to many of the requirements in principle, chief among them forbidding mask wearing by students engaged in violations of university policies.
Nearly all of Wednesday's rioters were wearing masks while flagrantly flouting the rules, and the university's response will be something of a referendum on how strictly it intends to follow the newly implemented prohibitions.
University guidelines dictate officers can ask an individual on campus to briefly pull down their mask so they can be identified — with any refusal to do that and show a school ID possibly leading to a person's removal from school grounds or even an arrest for trespassing.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the feds would be reviewing the visa statuses of those involved in the mayhem.
Additional reporting by David Propper