Hundreds of pro-Hamas protesters who were arrested this past week for taking over New York universities with unruly rallies will not face criminal records, the New York Post reported.
According to the media outlet, none of the 228 demonstrators who participated in the protests at Columbia University and New York University received charges that will go on their records.
The rowdy protesters were detained by the New York Police Department and released a short time later. Of the 120 anti-Israel activists who were removed from the NYU campus on Monday, 116 received summonses for trespassing, and four received desk appearance tickets for other charges, including resisting arrest.
DATs require the charged individuals to appear in the New York City Criminal Court for arraignment.
Another 108 pro-Palestinian protesters, including Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar's daughter, Isra Hirsi, were arrested at Columbia University earlier this month — 100 received summonses for trespassing and eight received DATs.
Neither summonses nor DATs go on criminal records.
One law enforcement source told the Post that the lack of accountability will only push the pro-Hamas activists to continue their demonstrations.
"They'll keep getting arrested and go back out and keep doing the same thing because this is all a performative game for them," the source explained. "It's a game because the system doesn't hold them accountable for their nightly temper tantrums."
The campus takeovers prompted Columbia University to switch its Morningside Heights classes to "hybrid," which effectively canceled nearly all in-person courses with few exceptions. Many administrators and staff members were encouraged to work remotely to avoid the potentially dangerous demonstrations.
Most individuals arrested at Columbia University receive summonses, and some others received DATs for offenses including resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer, the Post reported.
The protesters have repeatedly refused to leave the university campuses, setting up tents and signs while demanding the schools divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Despite the protesters dodging jail time and criminal records, more than 1,400 academics signed a letter vowing to boycott Columbia University events over the brief detainments, according to the school's newspaper. The academics from around the globe also demanded the university "divest from Israel's US-backed genocide in Gaza and the West Bank."
"We are appalled by the Columbia administration's decision to call the NYPD's Strategic Response Group onto campus, in full riot gear, to arrest over one hundred peacefully protesting students," the letter stated.
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The New York Police Department arrested more than 150 pro-Hamas protesters at New York University on Monday evening amid a wave of volatile demonstrations taking over university campuses.
Many of the detained anti-Israel protesters were students and faculty who had set up an encampment on the NYU campus. According to the school’s newspaper, Washington Square News, the pop-up campsite was formed by the NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition, which consists of more than 20 on-campus groups.
The protesters demanded that the university divest from entities with ties to Israel and shut down its Tel Aviv site. Similar encampments have sprouted up at a number of universities across the country, including Columbia University, MIT, Yale, and the University of Michigan.
Fountain Walker, NYU’s head of campus safety, warned protesters that they would “face consequences” if they failed to leave the area by 4 p.m., according to Washington Square News.
“With the breach of the barricades early this afternoon, that requirement was violated, and we witnessed disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community,” Walker told the crowd. “If you leave now, no one will face any consequences for today’s actions — no discipline, no police.”
Despite the warning, the demonstration continued to grow, with activists outside campus arriving to support those inside the encampment.
Around 8:30 p.m. on Monday, NYPD officers in riot gear instructed the protesters to disperse, warning that they would be arrested for trespassing if they refused. Police then began handcuffing demonstrators with zip ties. The remaining protesters responded to the arrests by forming a circle around the encampment and linking arms.
A video captured by a reporter with the City showed faculty and students creating a human barrier between police and the rest of the protesters.
While students pray at one end of the plaza police enter through back entrance LRAD plays while line of faculty hold a line.— (@)
Other videos shared on social media showed rowdy and disorderly protesters hurling chairs and other objects at NYPD officers.
Bottles and chairs thrown as NYPD Clears the NYU occupation encampment 'Liberated Zone', making mass arrests.\n\nFULL STORY: https://t.co/ogESGvZcpK\n\nVideo by @yyeeaahhhboiii2 Desk@freedomnews.tv to license— (@)
By approximately 9:30 p.m. all of the demonstrators had dispersed or been arrested, Washington Square News reported. It noted that NYPD began releasing the detained students and faculty in groups of two to five around 3:50 a.m.
NYU spokesperson John Beckman said, “We witnessed disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community, and that demonstrated how quickly a demonstration can get out of control or people can get hurt.”
“We also learned that there were intimidating chants and several anti-Semitic incidents reported,” Beckman continued. “Given the foregoing and the safety issues raised by the breach, we asked for assistance from the NYPD. The police urged those on the plaza to leave peacefully but ultimately made a number of arrests.”
Some remaining protesters who were not arrested by authorities marched toward NYPD headquarters carrying flares late Monday evening.
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