NYPD leader over Columbia: ‘Spoiled kids who think they can do whatever they want’

A top NYPD leader defended the department’s decision to aggressively stamp out pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and other colleges in New York City on Tuesday, saying police “set the tone for the city” against protesters. which he described as “illegal” and run by “spoiled children.”

Hundreds of NYPD officers armed with batons and wearing riot gear stormed the Columbia campus on Tuesday night, at the request of the university administration, to remove pro-Palestinian protest camps set up by students and to recover a campus building seized by protesters.

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell, who helped lead the operation, told Leland Vittert in an interview with NewsNation on Wednesday that his officers “performed admirably.”

“What we’re doing is holding these students accountable,” he said. “These are some spoiled kids who think they can do whatever they want. No accountability, no consequences, supported by teachers who are on the same page as them.”

Chell said the NYPD is committed to taking swift action against similar protests in the future.

“And let me be clear here: we support their right to protest. It’s a good thing, we do it correctly,” he said. “But, you know, under this mayor, our Commissioner, the illegal part of this, in that we’re not going to tolerate it, and we’re going to act quickly when we see it. And I think we’re doing that and changing the narrative in the city.”

The police response to the protest received a mixed reception from lawmakers, dividing Democrats, with progressives sharply denouncing the actions while others, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.), praised it.

Former President Trump also praised the NYPD’s response as a “beautiful thing to watch.”

New York City Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán called the police action “authoritarian” and a “colossal disgrace” on Wednesday.

“Our leaders are teaching students that not only will their peaceful assembly and government petition not result in a redress of grievances, it will actually land them in prison,” she wrote in a statement. declaration. “This is an extremely dangerous lesson to teach and will come back to haunt those who teach it.”

Chell he responded in a social media post that Cabán’s sentiments were “trash” and that she “hates our city and certainly does not represent the great people of New York.”

In the NewsNation interview on Wednesday, Chell also repeated claims from New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) and university administrators that the protesters occupying Hamilton Hall were “outside agitators,” which it has been disputed by some Columbia professors.

“And that’s what we deal with: out, stirring up, influencing kids on campus,” he said. “And we put that aside last night. Our police officers performed admirably, we had no problems and we set the tone for the country, the city for everyone to watch.”

New York police have not announced how many of the dozens of people arrested at Tuesday’s protest were not students. Chell said evidence of outside influence was the use of heavy-duty bicycle locks to lock doors.

“When our emergency services team went to Hamilton Hall to secure that location, they came across locks, yard locks that Mom and Dad certainly didn’t buy for you at Home Depot,” he said. “These are all doors we have to give up.”

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard made the same statement in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, showing off a kryptonite bike lock. The same locks are recommended to students by Columbia University’s Public Safety office and sold at a discount.

The police action came after tensions rose for more than a week in Columbia, which sparked hundreds of similar protests across the country against the Biden administration’s response to the Israel-Hamas war. The protests demanded a ceasefire in the conflict, an end to military aid to Israel and for its colleges and universities to divest themselves of Israeli interests.

Colombia is at the center of political attention in the protests. The campus received visits from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) and several members of Congress from both sides of the aisle last week.

Lawmakers from both parties have called on Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to resign if the protests cannot be quickly suppressed.

More than 1,000 students have been arrested across the country in similar protests, some of which have included violent clashes with police and counterprotesters.

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