NYC says half of those arrested at 2 pro-Palestinian campus protests were not students

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NPR

Updated May 4, 20245:27 PM ET


New York City officials say nearly half of the 282 people arrested at pro-Palestinian protests on two campuses this past week are not currently affiliated with either school.

The arrest breakdown was released on Thursday by the New York City Police Department and Mayor Eric Adams following mounting pressure for Adams to reveal how many of those arrested at Columbia University and The City College of New York were students after his repeated claims that "outside agitators" guided the protests that led to the arrests.

City officials said 29% of the 112 people arrested at a protest at Columbia on Tuesday were not affiliated with the school. At the City College protest, 60% of the 170 arrested were not affiliated with the school, according to the city's press release.

Police were sent to Columbia University at the request of school administrators, who had said protesters' occupation of Hamilton Hall was led by individuals not affiliated with Columbia.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/04/1249188864/nyc-columbia-city-college-gaza-protests-palestinian-campus

[jimfields33]

1. Let them all have a trial.

The students definitely should be expelled (if damaged or vandalized the building). Sort the rest out in court.

[King_Klonopin]

2. I smell a rat.

A big, fat, sketchy, GOP, psy-ops, Nixon-style, dirty tricks RAT.

If the true students identify themselves as liberals or progressives, they should be intelligent enough
to know that these protests are now hurting the cause of the Dems. The republicans want to tie this
"civil unrest" to the Dems, although everyone knows the anti-semites gather under the GOP tent.

I'm sure some of these non-student protesters are perpetual children looking for a place to act out, useful idiots,
and anarchists, but you have to suspect the RNC has some shady connection to it -- not George Soros (laugh)

[Irish_Dem]

3. Yes

Was a very well funded and well planned operation.
Which divided the liberals.

Who benefits and how?

[azureblue]

13. echoes of BLM

Deja Vu all over again. And I wonder how many UC cops were arrested?
From my accounts, it was peaceful until the outside agitators started trying to get the students to resort to violence. When they did not, the agitators (UC cops?) started throwing things to incite the police to attack the demonstrators.
A student told me some of the noisier demonstrators still had their cop boots on.. They looked way out of place..

[Rebl2]

18. I have

wondered the same thing.

[gay texan]

30. Didnt Nixion pull this stunt back in the day

Or was it the FBI that tried to infiltrate the anti war protests?

I think the phrase was "spit shined sandals"

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Alleged Violent Leader of Columbia University Riots Revealed as Wealthy Scion and Professional Agitator

James Carlson, also known as Cody Carlson and Cody Tarlow, has emerged as a prominent figure in the violent Columbia University riots. The 40-year-old, alleged to be a professional agitator and anarchist, hails from a wealthy background as the scion of millionaire ad execs. His parents, Richard “Dick” Tarlow and Sandy Carlson Tarlow, were prominent figures in the advertising industry, with Dick Tarlow passing away in 2022, leaving behind an estate worth at least $20 million.

Carlson’s luxurious lifestyle is evident, as he resides in a $3.4 million Brooklyn brownstone, purchased in 2019. The three-story property features four wood-burning fireplaces and a carriage house. His stepmother, Kristin Kehrberg, currently dating John Cougar Mellencamp, resides in a lavish Fifth Avenue mansion worth $15 million.

The alleged leader of the anti-Israel protesters, Carlson has a history of arrests dating back to 2005. He is an attorney by trade and has been involved in various acts of civil unrest. Carlson’s involvement in the recent Columbia University riots has drawn attention, with law enforcement officials considering him a possible leader of the protesters who broke into Hamilton Hall and barricaded themselves inside.

During the riots, Carlson was arrested and charged with burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, conspiracy, and criminal trespassing. He also allegedly destroyed a camera inside a holding cell at One Police Plaza, resulting in an additional charge of criminal mischief. Furthermore, Carlson faces charges of a hate crime, assault, and petit larceny for allegedly setting an Israel supporter’s flag on fire and striking a 22-year-old individual with a rock during a previous protest in April. Snip...more...
https://crimedoor.com/articles/alleged-violent-leader-of-columbia-university-riots-revealed-as-wealthy-scion-and-professional-agitator/

❤️pants

[SoFlaBro]

5. An "anti Capitalist" anarchist fucking living in a $3.4M brownstone and shit?!? Gimme a fuggin BREAK.

[24601]

6. Trespassing, Me? Not at all - I was just stopping by to audit a Graduate Law Class as part of my continuing education.

I was as surprised as anyone that there was a demonstration in progress. When we entered the Admin building, I was looking for the Registrar's office. Who could have known they were closed & I was just going to wait until they reopened.

[tornado34jh]

7. I had a suspicion that something was fishy

I had my doubts that all of them were students. There had to have been some coordination, but again, this feels like a setup.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. There were a number of still shots

of those doing the barricading at that Hamilton Hall who were mostly or completely dressed in black, many with black masks and/or hoodies, and with some wearing disposable gloves. IOW, probable "Black Bloc" anarchists.

[reACTIONary]

8. Who cares? They are...

... people with an opinion and are willing to show up and participate. Students or not, what difference does it make? The protests and protesters are not legitimate or illegitimate because of that.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. When they smash windows to gain entry to a building

they are NOT "protesting" and participating in "civil disobedience", they are damaging property and sullying the whole point of the protest.



These types are your "infiltrators".

[reACTIONary]

11. Sure, agreed. And what difference does it make...

... whether the guy smashing the window is an "evil infiltrator" or a "malicious insider?" If you are an insider it's suddenly OK to smash a widow?

And if an outsider shows up and participates peacefully alongside the students in solidarity, they are somehow illegitimate? There opinions don't count?

[BumRushDaShow]

12. The unfortunate result of "reporting"

blends them all together. But that is not a surprise.

This sort of thing happened with some of the BLM protests - notably in Portland for some reason, that became a hotbed of how a legit movement and its protests, can be hijacked by "bad actors".

[reACTIONary]

14. From my informal observations...

.... the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle) is a vigorous center of black block / anarchist / antifa ideology and activity. Both collectivist and individualist.

It seems like, in the popular imagination, these groups are seen as aligned leftist / progressive / liberal, and when things go south, they end up being given the blame, whether the protest activity is left or right oriented.

In some cases the blame game claim is that these groups don't actually exist, and that their activity is actually carried out by agent provocateurs. That is, the cops. The accusation of outside agitators is something of a variation on that.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. I would agree with that

All you need is one rogue cop to swing a baton and start a riot.

[Rebl2]

20. I would

guess it’s against the local law to trespass on a college campus (not a student) to help start a riot, break windows, take over buildings, set up barricades in those buildings they took over. Just like it is against the law to walk onto a campus and shoot at students, professors.

[reACTIONary]

25. You don't have to guess...

... it is. But why would someone who is not a student be any more likely than a student to smash windows or engage in other nefarious activity? Calling out so called "outside agitators" is just a psychological strategy for scapegoating and shifting blame to preserve the innocence of "insiders".

As far as trespass is concerned, it would be hard to make that claim unless there are gates, fences and signs, and even then, any outsiders could be there at the invitation of insiders. Especially if the protest was publicly announced.

IMHO this whole distinction between students and outsiders is moralistic casuistry.

[RandomNumbers]

33. Why would they be more likely?

A forty-year old who has done this before, is much more confident to do it again.
Also more likely if they are being motivated by outside forces and possibly even receiving some economic encouragement (yes approaching CT there but stay with me) - which would be much more likely for an outsider than a student.

Students would be LESS likely to do it because of the risk of being expelled. Yeah, some don't care about wasting Mommy's or Daddy's big dollars that sent them to this school - but most would at least think of it and be more likely to be deterred.

Yes, it would be more likely for a non-student to engage in violent and otherwise illegal acts, than a student.

And everyone knows pretty well when they are on the property of a college campus. We aren't talking about straying off a footpath in a wooded area here.

[reACTIONary]

35. Why in the world do we need to speculate whether or not ....

... some class of people are more or less likely to take some action or another as opposed to some other class of people? What difference does that make? What counts is what some individual did or did not do regardless of whether a student or not.

After reading the NYT article that focused on this, I think that this was brought up at the Mayor's press conference to help legitimize the use of police force. I guess they figure that if there were "outside agitators" in the crowd, they wouldn't get criticized as much for going in and making arrests.

Another aspect of this is that it removes agency from the student protesters. "They're just kids, being manipulated by nefarious outside agitators. No need to take them seriously. No need to think about what they are advocating or standing up for." Makes it easy to dismiss them.

Students at Columbia, apparently many of them graduate students, are not sheeple being led around by the nose by "outside agitators". They are intelligent, thoughtful, and principled individuals who have considered the issues and - for better or worse - have decided to take a stand. They make their choices, they act as they choose, and they will have to take responsibility for their actions. Outside agitators or not.

[paleotn]

24. Fighting with the cops and destruction of property are not legitimate.

MLK called and said you're very misguided.

[reACTIONary]

26. And who said it is???? Does being a...

... student make it OK? Is being a peaceful outsider who shows up in solidarity make you bad?

The distinction between outsiders and students isn't significant. It's the individual's behavior that counts. And students, in my personal experience, are just as capable of being agitators as are "outsiders".

[paleotn]

29. They're not peacefully protesting, whoever they may be. They're destroying property and fighting with the police...

Accept that fact. It's incontrovertible. Then again, maybe that was the sole mission for some of them to begin with.

[reACTIONary]

31. Once again, who said "they" weren't destroying property? The question is....

... why categorize "them" as either students, or "outsiders"? Which is what the OP says is being done.

Students, outsiders, what difference does it make? It isn't significant. In either case destroying property, etc. is wrong and illegal.

[Prairie Gates]

15. Half of this "outside agitators" discourse is as dumb as the MAGAs blaming antifa for Jan 6

Last edited Sun May 5, 2024, 02:38 PM - Edit history (1)

The other half is just complete misunderstanding of coalitional protest and activism. All notable protest movements have been coalitional , especially where student movements have connected with a wide constituency beyond the university. That's basic protest history since WWII.

It's also comical that they say "half of those arrested," then provide numbers showing the 70% of those arrested at Columbia were, in fact, students (NOTE: I'm correcting this while keeping the initial error in: 70% were students, faculty, or staff - all associated with the university; thanks for the correction in the comment below). They juked this number with the CUNY numbers, which included many non-CUNY spaces given the specific configuration of CUNY's Manhattan campus. At least be honest, in other words.

All those people who are like "Aha, it's right wing provocateurs!" Honestly, grow up.

[LeftInTX]

21. 50% students, 29% outside the university, 21% faculty, staff, employees.

At least that's how I have been reading it.

Columbia campus access was temporarily locked out to those who did not present a Columbia University ID at the time. This was an effort to prevent those who were not affiliated with the university to access the campus. Obviously, it didn't work. A professional organizer was with occupiers at Hamilton Hall. Columbia was trying to avoid this by locking access.

Reading between the lines: Columbia might be looking at faculty, staff, employees and even campus security employees.

[reACTIONary]

27. Exactly! And...

... I don't think the outsiders are supposed to be right wingers or cops. So the left gets blamed anyway.

[question everything]

16. I am curious of how many of the students are seniors, willing to trash their own graduation

[RandomNumbers]

34. It kind of bugs me that they don't care about trashing anyone else's graduation.

Other students who might have struggled and worked very hard to achieve this. Who don't have rich parents. Who really NEED that credential and have a right to be proud of achieving it.

Yeah supposedly the cause is so much more righteous than just getting a college degree. But I don't think the protestors should get the right to decide that for others.

[dembotoz]

19. did not know the protests were private school events

I attended a black lives matter protests put on by some local high school types.
Must admit i was amazed at the number of cops in attendance....
but anyway....I am old enough to be a grandfather to any of those kids

was i an outside agitator?

[Voltaire2]

28. yes and you are paid by Putin

I just want to know when my checks will arrive.

[FakeNoose]

22. The police are good at spotting outside agitators when they're at the demonstrations

But the agitators stir up trouble and then disappear when the paddy-wagons show up and people are getting arrested. So it's really necessary to prevent outsiders from coming onto the campus, and that's on college admins. They need to wake up.

[republianmushroom]

23. Is anybody surprised by this ?

Don't think anybody is.

[TexasDem69]

32. How does the fact that some far left assholes

Joined the pro-Hamas protests excuse the students?