Johnson calls on Columbia University president to resign
House speaker Mike Johnson, speaking on the steps outside the Low Library at Columbia University, called for the resignation of the president of the university, Minouche Shafik, over her handling of the protests at the school. Johnson said:
I am here today, joining my colleagues and calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.
Johnsonâs speech was repeatedly interrupted by a crowd of protesters. âEnjoy your free speech,â the speaker replied.
Key events
With protests underway at universities across the US, the White House said on Wednesday that Joe Biden supports freedom of expression on college campuses.
âThe president believes that free speech, debate and nondiscrimination on college campuses are important,â Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, said at a briefing.
At least 10 arrests at University of Texas in Austin
At least 10 protesters have been arrested at the University of Texas at Austin, according to the school.
Dozens of state troopers and police officers in riot gear were at the scene after hundreds of students walked out of class to protest the war in Gaza and demand the university divest from companies that manufacture machinery used in Israelâs war.
âUT Austin does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses,â a statement by the universityâs division of student affairs said.
This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption.
Johnson calls on Columbia University president to resign
House speaker Mike Johnson, speaking on the steps outside the Low Library at Columbia University, called for the resignation of the president of the university, Minouche Shafik, over her handling of the protests at the school. Johnson said:
I am here today, joining my colleagues and calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.
Johnsonâs speech was repeatedly interrupted by a crowd of protesters. âEnjoy your free speech,â the speaker replied.
Mike Johnson slams college protests in remarks at Columbia University
The House speaker, Mike Johnson, is giving a news conference surrounded by a group of House Republicans, amid boos and chants of âWe canât hear youâ and âFree, free Palestineâ.
Johnson urged that the âmadness has to stopâ and said Jewish students had shared with him experiences of âheinous acts of bigotryâ because of their faith.
Quoting Winston Churchill, Johnson said âit is manifestly right that the Jews should have a National Home where some of them may be reunited.â
Johnson claimed Columbia University is being âovertaken by radical extreme ideologiesâ that âplace a target on the backs of Jewish studentsâ, adding:
Let me say this very simply: no American of any color or creed should ever have to live under those kinds of threats. That is not who we are in this country.
He said he met briefly with the president of Columbia University and encouraged her to take more action against the protesters.
New York governor says Johnson ‘adding to division’ with Columbia University visit
Kathy Hochul, the Democratic governor of New York, called Mike Johnsonâs trip to Columbia University âdivisiveâ and accused the House speaker of âpoliticizing the issueâ.
According to the New York Post, Hochul said:
Thereâs a lot more responsibilities and crises to be dealt with in Washington. Iâd encourage the speaker to go back and perhaps take up the migrant bill, the bill to deal with closing the border, so we can deal with a real crisis that New York has.
A crowd has gathered on the Low Steps of Columbia University, where the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, is expected to deliver remarks at a press conference after meeting with Jewish students today.
In a radio interview this morning, Johnson said he would call on the president of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, to resign after failing to crack down on the protests.
There is âsignificant activityâ at the University of Southern Californiaâs university park campus in Los Angeles, the school said in an update this afternoon.
As we reported earlier, videos posted to social media show students taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations being forcibly arrested by police.
As Columbiaâs administration faces growing backlash following president Minouche Shafikâs decision last week to authorize police to dismantle Palestinian solidarity encampments and arrest students, a page on the universityâs website has been garnering some attention online.
The page reflects on the 1968 protests that swept through Columbia as students demonstrated against the Vietnam war and the construction of a segregated gym in Morningside Park.
It says:
Columbia is a far different place today than it was in the spring of 1968 when protesters took over University buildings amid discontent about the Vietnam War, racism and the Universityâs proposed expansion into Morningside Park. After a weeklong standoff, New York City Police stormed the campus and arrested more than 700 people. The fallout dogged Columbia for years.
It took decades for the University to recover from those turbulent times. Columbia now has one of the most socio-economically diverse student bodies among its peer institutions.â
As students are arrested across the country over demonstrations and encampments held in solidarity with Palestine, New York University â which describes itself on its website as âa campus without wallsâ â has set up plywood walls.
The walls come after New York police arrested multiple protesters following demonstrations on Monday during which students and faculty called for the university to divest from Israel.
Here are some images surfacing online from NYU:
The Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has issued a statement about the crackdown on students at the University of Texas, Austin following their anti-war protests and calls for the university to âdivest from deathâ in Israel.
In a statement on X, the ACLU chapter wrote:
âThe freedom to protest is integral to our democracy.
UT Austin students have a First Amendment right to freely express their political opinions – without threats of arrest and violence.
If you or someone you know needs legal support, call the Austin Lawyers Guild: 512-817-4254.â
Here are more images and videos surfacing online from the University of Texas, Austin where state troopers have marched on to campus as anti-war students protest Israelâs war on Gaza:
Students forcibly arrested at University of Southern California in LA
Videos emerging online show students being forcibly arrested by police at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Campus officials have also dismantled Palestinian solidarity encampments set up earlier today by students who are demanding for USC to divest from Israel, along with a ceasefire in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.
Columbia University student protesters said the university has provided a âwritten commitment and concession not to call the NYPD or the National Guardâ to break up the encampments.
A statement from Columbia students for justice in Palestine reads:
The universityâs previous threats of an imminent sweep by the NYPD or the National Guard had severed negotiations. The administrationâs threats backfired when student negotiators refused to stay at the table.
âThousands of peaceful students flooded the lawns in support of their peersâ in response to the failed negotiations, it said.
Student protestors on Columbiaâs campus â the majority of whom are Palestinian, Black, brown, and Jewish students from marginalized backgrounds â stood by each other for hours last night, awaiting the outcome of Columbiaâs disturbing threat of military or police violence.
Faisal Ali
Anti-war student protesters at Franceâs most prestigious politics school, Sciences Po, have begun pitching tents on the universityâs campus.
Bilge Kotan, a student and journalist at Sciences Po, said about 70 people would camp at the universityâs Saint-Thomas campus, demanding the institution cut ties with Israeli universities and stop ârepressionâ of pro-Palestinian voices.