'We Have The Power': Antiwar Protests Spread To More NYC Schools

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — Pro-Palestinian protests sprang up at more New York City schools in the wake of an encampment at Columbia University that continued to draw support, counterprotests and controversy.

Students at City College of New York, a CUNY school, launched their own encampment Thursday to protest the war in Gaza, according to social media posts that show tents being set up.

Likewise, pro-Palestinian protesters stormed the Fashion Institute of Technology, according to videos.

"Students, students, hold your ground - NYPD back down!" a group called CUNY4Palestine tweeted.

By Thursday afternoon, rumors and reports spread that City College's leaders had contacted NYPD officials to break up the protest — as cops had tried at Columbia and did at NYU in recent days.

The student protesters made a call to New Yorkers to descend on campus to stifle any coming crackdown.

"Our strength is in our numbers," tweet from the protesters stated. "We have the power in our thousands to prevent the NYPD from sweeping the encampment."

The fears of a crackdown came as similar pro-Palestinian encampments on other campuses saw ensuing crackdowns by police and college officials) across the nation.

Police in New York City arrested 120 students and faculty at NYU this week, in addition to roughly 200 at Columbia.

Students in University of Texas at Austin, University of South California and Emerson College were seen in viral videos being cuffed by cops after school officials called in law enforcement to break up demonstrations. Unspecific security threats at USC tied to on-campus protests even led to the cancellation of the university's May commencement ceremony.

Columbia protesters face a 48-hour deadline, which ends Friday, to dismantle their encampment. While sources say plans to call in the National Guard are off the table, it's still possible the NYPD could sweep the encampment again should protester negotiations with the university go south.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, voiced a different approach in mind during his campus visit Wednesday.

“If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard," he said.

Far-Right Leaders Plan Columbia Counterprotest Thursday Evening

A pro-Israel counterprotest led by far-right media figures planned to descend on Columbia University Thursday as the days long Gaza Solidarity Encampment student demonstration continues.

The rally, dubbed the “United For Israel March" and organized by right-wing activist Sean Feucht and conservative media host Eric Metaxas in tandem with the new Columbia Jewish Alumni Association was slated for Thursday 25 at 6:30 p.m., according to rally posts circulating on social media.

In a Thursday afternoon letter posted to the school website, Columbia Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway urged students to avoid the area Thursday evening if possible. Increased security has been added along the campus perimeter and added NYPD personnel will monitor the area, he said.

“TONIGHT AT COLUMBIA! A unity march of Christians and Jews w/@StandWithUs @seanfeucht @ericmetaxas @russellbjohnson and alums of ALL FAITHS will stand together against hate,” the Columbia Jewish Alumni Association, which was formed last October in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, wrote in an X post. “America is recognizing that leadership at once-great universities has failed.”

Feucht, who is poised to speak at the rally alongside Metaxas, noted “folks are making plans and taking planes, buses and trains to join us” and “partner organizations are joining us from across the nation" in a series of X posts. "Columbia has been taken over by radical Pro-Hamas protestors. On April 25, that changes," he added.

Feucht has previously used a Proud Boys member as a rally security guard, protested COVID-era gathering restrictions and denounced "gender confusion [and] sexual perversion" among young people.

“A large group of former Navy Seals just reached out and said they will provide all security and safety for our UNITED FOR ISRAEL MARCH," Feucht wrote in another X post.

Metaxas, the host of the conservative radio show The Eric Metaxas Show, is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump's election fraud claims and once admitted to punching an anti-Trump protester in the head.

"We are going to pray hard and sing loudly," Metaxas tweeted Thursday. "We are EXTREMELY opposed to vicious Jew hatred."

Accusations of antisemitic harassment of Jewish students at Columbia amid pro-Palestine encampment protests has prompted condemnations from the White House and Mayor Eric Adams, although the protests' supporters contend those incidents, if they happened, are isolated.

"Across the country, there are people who come, have nothing to do with the issue, and they want to aggravate," Adams said at an unrelated news conference Tuesday.

He contended there were a "number of people" seeking to take advantage of the climate at New York universities and try to "cause violence in our city, and we're going to seek them out and we’re going to identify them."

Adams' remarks came just before he floated an apparent conspiracy — shared with NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry — claiming the tents used in encampment protests were part of a "well-concerted organizing effort" from "outside agitators" working behind the scenes. Related: Mayor Pitches Tent Conspiracy Theory Over NYC Campus Protest Camps

At a press briefing Tuesday, Columbia officials similarly noted an uptick in hate speech on campus amid the protest, but did not disclose further details.

"I also want to be clear that we will not tolerate intimidating, harassing, or discriminatory behavior," Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said in a letter posted to Columbia's website Tuesday. "We are working to identify protestors who violated our policies against discrimination and harassment, and they will be put through appropriate disciplinary processes.

"The right to protest is essential and protected at Columbia, but harassment and discrimination is antithetical to our values and an affront to our commitment to be a community of mutual respect and kindness," she added.

What's Going On At Columbia?

Student demonstrators first descended on the lawn about 4 a.m. April 17 and set up dozens of tents. The ongoing protest plans to remain on the campus lawn until the university divests from its interests in Israel, organizers said in videos posted to social media.

While several Columbia student groups have pushed divestment for years, calls have been renewed amid the Israel-Hamas war. Last fall's "Call To Action for Palestine" protest, organized by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, urged newly-inaugurated Shafik to end the campus' dual-degree program with Tel Aviv University and pull the plug on the Tel Aviv Global Center opening.

Other demands include Columbia University verbally acknowledging Palestine "existence and humanity," according to the SJP Instagram page.

Following warning letters distributed to student protesters Wednesday night, over 100 demonstrators were arrested and students were suspended Thursday afternoon after Shafik called the NYPD to sweep the encampment. Read more: Dozens Arrested In Columbia Protests As NYPD Moves On Campus

"During the suspension, you may not go to class or hand in work related to courses and therefore may not be able to complete your current courses," the letter reads. "Your [student ID] will be deactivated, you will not have access to classrooms and other parts of campus and may not participate in University activities."

At least three students — including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi — were suspended as a result of the protests, Hirsi confirmed via X.

Chief John Chell told the Columbia Spectator the "clear and present danger" that warranted the arrests was identified by Columbia, not authorities. The NYPD also didn't report any violence or injuries in connection with the encampment.

"To put this in perspective, the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner," Chell told the student publication.

Students returned to the lawn shortly thereafter and the encampment “continues to grow,” Brian Chang, Columbia’s Vice President of Public Affairs, said at a media briefing Tuesday. During his remarks, he noted the protest stands in “violation of university rules, full stop, and we are taking steps to resolve it.”

The school has since switched to hybrid learning amid the demonstration, the Associated Press reported.

Read more of Patch's coverage of the antiwar protests:

• Columbia, NYU Antiwar Protests Yield 230 Arrests, Finger-Pointing
• More Than 200 Arrested In Grand Army Plaza Antiwar Protest: NYPD
• Yale Police Charge 45 With Criminal Trespass In Protest: PD
• Columbia Protesters Given 48-Hour Deadline To Dismantle Encampment