Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday condemned pro-Palestinian protesters who broke into and took over a Columbia University building.
“Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech,” the New York Democrat said on a speech on the Senate floor. “It is lawlessness and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters early Tuesday took over Hamilton Hall, which is home to some administrative offices, after the university on Monday started suspending students for not clearing out the encampment. The university has since closed the campus, except for essential employees and students who live in a dorm.
“Free speech, discussion, and even strong disagreement are fundamental American values. And campuses should be places where those values are cherished. Campuses cannot be places of learning and argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality,” said Schumer, who is the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history. “Those who commit such acts are doing nothing to convince others that their cause is just.”
