A New York City college suspended a security officer on Friday after a published video showed him swearing and using threatening language against pro-Palestinian protesters during his graduation ceremony.
College of Staten Island President Timothy Lynch responded to the incident in a statementcondemning “offensive” language.
“Yesterday, the College of Staten Island held a ceremony celebrating more than 2,000 graduates,” Lynch wrote. “Unfortunately, a distressing incident occurred during graduation involving a CUNY public safety officer.”
“We want to make it clear that the offensive language used by this officer does not reflect the views or values of the College of Staten Island, [City University of New York] or our dedicated Public Safety team of over 50 police officers,” he added. “We deeply regret that this incident occurred on such an important day for our graduates and their families.”
In a recent Instagram publish, CSI’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) stated “at the CSI graduation strike over CUNY’s complicity in the genocide of the Palestinians, CUNY official Sgt. Donald Girard 281 declared that he supported genocide and ‘I support killing all of you.’”
The post, according to the Associated Press, presented a video of what appears to be the officer making the threat to pro-Palestine protesters. When contacted, however, the officer and staff did not respond to requests for comment.
CSI, one of several schools in the city’s university system, known locally as CUNY, held its on-campus graduation Thursday morning, according to its website. Several graduations were canceled this spring as protests against Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and subsequent humanitarian crisis spread to campuses across the country.
The news also comes after the United Nations’ top court ruled on Friday that Israel must suspend its operations in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than 900,000 people took refuge in the first days of the war. Aid agencies argue there is nowhere safe for them to go.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
