Police ‘spread thin’ as anti-Israel agitators challenge understaffed NYPD: expert

New York City has become the epicenter of campus protests at the hands of radicals denouncing Israel and Jews worldwide, forcing the NYPD to juggle yet another public safety concern and hundreds of arrests, in addition to ongoing crime trends, the immigration crisis, police understaffing and even security surrounding the unprecedented trial of former President Trump in Manhattan. 

“We believe that they, too, should contribute to the cost,” Democratic Mayor Eric Adams said last week when asked if Columbia University should foot the bill for a recent massive NYPD operation to remove radicals from campus. 

“One way to prevent the costs from escalating is to have a zero tolerance. As soon as the tents go up, it comes down. Do not allow this to continue to expand,” Adams continued. “That is what we saw at Columbia University and that is what we saw at CUNY as well.”

“[I]f this summer turns out to be a very hot summer on the crime front, I mean, that can be particularly disastrous at a time in which the department is spread as thin as it is.” 

Just last month, anti-Israel protests on Columbia University’s campus spiraled, with students and outside agitators seen on camera with a poster outlining that Jewish students on campus would become Al-Qasam’s “next targets,” referring to terrorist organization Hamas’s military wing. That same weekend, a rabbi at Columbia warned Jewish students to leave campus immediately until the situation was quelled. 

NYPD RELEASE VIDEO SHOWING PROFESSIONAL ‘PROTEST CONSULTANT’ AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

“The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” Rabbi Elie Buechler wrote. “It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.”

The situation did not dramatically improve. Instead, an encampment on campus dubbed the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” grew and radicals overtook a building on campus, Hamilton Hall. The encampment and occupation of Hamilton Hall only ended when the NYPD stormed the campus, clearing the encampment and removing throngs of agitators from the building. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PROTESTS: REP. ELISE…