New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a Sunday interview defended the police for breaking up the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses last week, arresting nearly 100 protesters at Columbia University.
“We want to ensure we protect democracy and the right to protest,” Mr. Adams told ABC News, “but we have an obligation that when those protests reach the point of violence, as the president stated, we have to ensure that we use a minimum amount of force to terminate what is perceived to be a threat not only by our intelligence, but also the school and college officials.”
President Joe Biden commented on the actions of the protesters on Thursday. “Destroying property is not a peaceful protest, it’s against the law,” the president said, referring to the situation at Columbia University.
“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation, none of this is a peaceful protest.”
Mr. Adams said that the large-scale police operation was not only a unilateral decision from the city authorities’ side, but came after several days of communication with school officials.
“We knew we had to get permission unless there’s imminent threat to life or severe threat to property. And once the school made the determination, we shared the information that we had.”
University officials had been warning the protesters that they were violating university policies, and had made repeated attempts to negotiate. But the protesters refused to pack up their encampment.
“Our intelligence division looked at it and it was concerning to me,” the mayor said.
Some criticized the police intervention as disproportionate, undemocratic, and improper, including some faculty members and some of Mr. Adams’ fellow Democrats.
New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman wrote on X last week that “the militarization of college campuses, extensive police presence, and arrest of hundreds of students are in direct opposition to the role of education as a cornerstone of our democracy.”
Mr. Adams said he respected Mr. Bowman’s opinion.
“He has his position, and I have an obligation and responsibility to ensure the city is safe,” the mayor responded.
The mayor then produced a leaflet he said was found among the protesters that read: “Death to Israeli real-estate! Death to America! Unschool!”
“This has left the point of advocating for a particular item, and as I say over and over again, there’s a real attempt to radicalize our young people,” Mr. Adams said, reiterating his earlier claims that the protests had been co-opted by “outside agitators.”
“When you look at some of the information and some of the people who were there, we need to be clear that we cannot take this lightly.
“When I use the term of ‘outside agitators,’ anyone can protest in the city, but when you are on college grounds and you do not attend that college, you are an outsider, and then when you train people to do destructive things, you are an agitator,” the mayor added.
“I’m not trying to be politically correct, I’m trying to be correct for the city of New York.”
Washington University Dean Andrew D. Martin made similar claims, after police broke up pro-Palestinian protests at the St. Louis University on April 27.
Of the 100 people arrested, only 27 were students or university staff.
“What happened Saturday was not a peaceful protest by our students,” Mr. Martin wrote in a statement. “This was something else. The majority of this group were not WashU students, faculty, or staff.”
“We certainly will not permit outside interests to take over Washington University,” he added.
Recent events have raised questions about the upcoming commencement ceremonies—whether they should be downscaled or perhaps canceled altogether—a decision Mayor Adams does not at all support.
“If the institution decides to graduate their students and celebrate a beautiful experience for their families, we will make sure it’s done in a peaceful manner,” he said.
“I don’t think we should allow anything to get in our normal way of life.”
