Video captured from the body-worn cameras of New York City police officers this week showed the authorities pushing their way inside a Columbia University building that had been commandeered by demonstrators opposed to Israel.
The video captures the exact moment on Tuesday night when demonstrators had blocked Hamilton Hall and NYPD officers in protective gear broke through.
Protesters outside the building can be heard singing, “We shall not be moved,” as police approach it.
Tarik Sheppard, the deputy commissioner of public information for the NYPD, told “Your World Cavuto” on Thursday that a large number of the demonstrators were outside agitators rather than students at the institution.
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They are experts,” he remarked.They might merely arrive by plane for a day or two before departing. They have funds, which explains why you may see them touring the nation.”
“The students are already passionate and upset about an issue, and now you have a person whispering in your ear ‘Hey, you know, we should take over the building’ or something like that,” Sheppard said. “When young minds that are in that state, it’s pretty easy to then be influenced by somebody who is a professional at manipulation.”
The police can be seen in the bodycam footage at Hamilton Hall using a tool to open a front door that had several chairs placed against it from the inside.
As soon as the police entered, they came upon a saw-toothed barricade made of what looked like furniture. “Free, free Palestine!” is being chanted by protestors outside.
Suddenly, there are several loud booms followed by the words, “Let’s deploy a flashbang (grenade),” uttered by an officer. Upon breaching the barrier, the officers encountered demonstrators seated within a detention chamber.
Sheppard added that other institutions in the city have asked the NYPD to maintain a presence on their campus at least through the middle of May. She stated that authorities were only permitted to remove protestors off the campus after the university formally sought assistance.
That’s what many of them are asking for. Our request is that they devise a strategy for achieving self-sufficiency. But we refuse to abandon them, and we wish to prevent the campuses from reverting to their previous condition,” he declared.
