- Dec 29, 2008
- 19,833
- 4,840
- 280
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Of the hundreds arrested during protests at City College of New York and Columbia University, police say nearly half of them were found to have no affiliation with the schools.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials announced that about 300 people were arrested overnight in intense protests at both city schools.
Approximately 134 of the 282 people taken into custody at Columbia University and CCNY were not affiliated with either school -- more than 47%.
At Columbia, 32 people arrested were not affiliated with the school, while about 80 people were. At CCNY, 102 people arrested were not affiliated, and 68 were.
The estimates are based on preliminary background analysis by NYPD. The city is forwarding the lists of arrested protesters to the universities to cross-check and determine the current status of those arrested.
"There were individuals on the campus that should not have been there," Adams said. "There were people who are professionals. We know the terminology 'outside agitator' was used during the Civil Rights movement, when people attempted to show that the movement was not legitimate, and we understand that."
For some, the term "outside agitator" brings back memories of the Civil Rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously wrote about being called an outside agitator in the now-historic letter from the Birmingham jail in April 1963.
Fast forward 60 years, and outside protesters are now being accused of influencing the protests at Columbia University. How the protest escalated from the tent encampment on Columbia's west lawn to the Hamilton Hall takeover is now under scrutiny by NYPD officials.
Investigators are looking at the role of outsiders who were on campus in the days before encampment participants shifted to Hamilton Hall, and whether those people gave the student protesters the idea to take over Hamilton Hall and the tactical knowledge to do it.
The NYPD directed attention to 68-year-old Sami Al-Arian, an accused terrorist deported to Turkey in 2015, who posted a picture of his wife in the tent encampment at Columbia.
"We saw evidence of training, we saw a shift in tactics that were being used," Adams said.
Another activist, 63-year-old Lisa Fithian, is one of the people that police say has been escalating student protests. For decades she has been pictured in protests all over the country.
Arraignments have already started in the most serious charges of the 282 arrests.
Columbia officials are still restricting access to campus, even as students begin to move out of their housing. The NYPD is set to remain on school grounds until graduation.
abc7ny.com
If the NYPD suspects people or organizations affiliated with terrorism are involved in these protests, it's a fair bet Homeland Security does too, but will Biden allow them to release this information before the election?
In a press conference on Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials announced that about 300 people were arrested overnight in intense protests at both city schools.
Approximately 134 of the 282 people taken into custody at Columbia University and CCNY were not affiliated with either school -- more than 47%.
At Columbia, 32 people arrested were not affiliated with the school, while about 80 people were. At CCNY, 102 people arrested were not affiliated, and 68 were.
The estimates are based on preliminary background analysis by NYPD. The city is forwarding the lists of arrested protesters to the universities to cross-check and determine the current status of those arrested.
"There were individuals on the campus that should not have been there," Adams said. "There were people who are professionals. We know the terminology 'outside agitator' was used during the Civil Rights movement, when people attempted to show that the movement was not legitimate, and we understand that."
For some, the term "outside agitator" brings back memories of the Civil Rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously wrote about being called an outside agitator in the now-historic letter from the Birmingham jail in April 1963.
Fast forward 60 years, and outside protesters are now being accused of influencing the protests at Columbia University. How the protest escalated from the tent encampment on Columbia's west lawn to the Hamilton Hall takeover is now under scrutiny by NYPD officials.
Investigators are looking at the role of outsiders who were on campus in the days before encampment participants shifted to Hamilton Hall, and whether those people gave the student protesters the idea to take over Hamilton Hall and the tactical knowledge to do it.
The NYPD directed attention to 68-year-old Sami Al-Arian, an accused terrorist deported to Turkey in 2015, who posted a picture of his wife in the tent encampment at Columbia.
"We saw evidence of training, we saw a shift in tactics that were being used," Adams said.
Another activist, 63-year-old Lisa Fithian, is one of the people that police say has been escalating student protests. For decades she has been pictured in protests all over the country.
Arraignments have already started in the most serious charges of the 282 arrests.
Columbia officials are still restricting access to campus, even as students begin to move out of their housing. The NYPD is set to remain on school grounds until graduation.
Protesters unaffiliated with CCNY, Columbia made up nearly half of arrests: police
Of the approximately 300 people arrested, police say almost half of them are not affiliated with City College of New York or Columbia University.
abc7ny.com
If the NYPD suspects people or organizations affiliated with terrorism are involved in these protests, it's a fair bet Homeland Security does too, but will Biden allow them to release this information before the election?
