Are We Sure That The Columbia University Protesters Are All.....

[global1]

students?

Could there be any outside provocateurs involved - inciting the students to violence?

The clips they are showing of the protesters storming the building on campus - look similar to the storming of the Capitol Bldg on Jan 6th. Given these clips - I'm wondering how the Repugs will react to this storming of this building on campus and what they will say about it. I'm wondering what pearls of hypocrisy will come from their lips about this storming of the building?

Could this building storming - just be a way to embarrass Biden?

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. That wouldn't surprise me one bit!

[sarisataka]

2. Well just yesterday there were many posts

differentiating between posters. The on-campus protesters were supposedly fine because IDs were checked so we could be sure they were all students.

But that was yesterday and now they have done something which may make them and those who support them look bad so...

[Fla Dem]

3. Probably many non-students, outside agitators.

[Think. Again.]

4. I am ABSOLUTELY sure...

....that they are NOT all students and that yes, disruptors, agitators, and provocateurs are probably the loudest voices we are hearing.

[LakeArenal]

9. I'm guessing Russia is "fingering " the pulse.

[Think. Again.]

12. Probably...

....and the rightwing party, and the Democratic Socialist party, and AIPAC and hamas and.... The list goes on of groups who could gain some advantage from fanning these flames.

[LakeArenal]

16. I think Russia. Hamas is also Russia influence.

[Think. Again.]

19. I think a lot of various groups.

[ripcord]

5. At this point does it matter?

Just arrest everyone in the building and start charging them, students will get additional discipline from the school.

[LeftInTX]

8. Well, they haven't called the cops yet...whatever....

Maybe Columbia knows what it's doing? Who knows?

[JohnSJ]

10. You are right, it doesn't matter, criminal acts are being committed, and they should be arrested and charged. If they

students, expel their stupid asses, and let them put that on their resumes

[Rebl2]

11. The additional punishment

for them from the school should be suspension and never allowed back on campus. This will likely follow them if they try to enroll in another college and they will be denied admission.

[global1]

13. And Don't Forgive Their Student Loans......nt

[Rebl2]

6. Have been

wondering about this for days. I would not be surprised if there are not maga people instigating some of this to somehow make President Biden look bad. Maybe they have been planning this for months.

[wnylib]

47. I don't think that MAGA is part of this, although I

understand why people might speculate about them.

Just as the Rs have people on the extreme right (a majority of them now), there are people on the extreme left, like Susan Sarandon.

In January of 2003, I joined a huge protest in DC against Bush the Younger's push for invasion of Iraq. It meant traveling by car with friends to Buffalo and boarding buses there for DC.

The buses were sponsored by a socialist group and I am a liberal Dem, not a socialist. I was on the bus only for the transportation.

Once the bus was on the road, the socialist leader on our bus (there was one for each of the 8 or so buses) passed out pamphlets to each passenger. The pamphlets were strongly anti Israel with language that had some anti Jewish tropes. My seat mate was a young Black woman who worked for a Buffalo bank. After looking at the pamphlet, she crumpled it up and said that she did not support racism of any kind. Several other passengers did the same thing, including me.

I am not condemning groups like DSA. I respect and admire AOC on many issues. But there are some people who seem to go so far left that they go full circle and end up beside the far right.

(I am also not a "centrist" Dem. I lean to the left of them, but not as far left as the DSA or someone like Sarandan.)

[LeftInTX]

7. Xitter is saying a professional protester named Lisa Fithian is on Columbia's campus

Link to tweet

I don't know it's true, but they are posting pictures. She's about 60 years old. And has a history with black bloc tactics. (Noticed all the "Ninja looking" people in black last night reminded me of black bloc)

[Voltaire2]

14. Outside Agitators. How quaint.

My ‘60s flashback continues.

[BannonsLiver]

23. Lot of that going around lately.

?si=gGx60phTcFQxQHsH

[Ping Tung]

15. Of course non-students join demos. Are they "outside agitators" as the old RW canard claims?

No. They're citizens exercising their 1st Amendment rights.

Are the humanitarians in Gaza delivering food, aiding the wounded civilians "outside provocateurs" working to embarrass Biden? No. They're too busy saving lives to worried about embarrassment.

[EllieBC]

20. They have a first amendment right to

take workers hostage and threaten Jewish students?

[Ping Tung]

22. There are consequences to breaking any law.

The same applies to people who kill or starve civilians no matter what the rationale.

[EllieBC]

26. So you're saying that a Jewish student at Columbia

Should be punished for what’s going on in the Middle East? I guess then you were in favor of American Muslims being punished for 911?

[Ping Tung]

31. I'm saying that vandals should be punished and also killers of civilianss.

No matter which side they're on.

[mopinko]

25. they have no 1st amendment right to protest on private property.

if they dont work there or attend, they have no RIGHT to b there, let alone stir up violence and hate.

[Beastly Boy]

34. Anyone can exercise their first amendment rights outside Columbia's campus without

violating college policies.

And what's with the comparisons of loud entitled assholes cosplaying intifada in the safety of the university's compound to volunteers delivering food in Gaza?

[EllieBC]

17. Doesn't really matter when they

are destroying property and now taking workers hostage. I don’t give a fuck who they are. Arrest them, charge them, bye bye and off to jail.

[Iris]

21. Where have you seen that they took hostages?

[EllieBC]

28. There's a thread today about a worker who said she was held hostage

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218907699

I mean, I’m sure if she was Jewish she was asking for it right? Because Jews should be punished wherever they are for what’s going on in the middle of east, right? Like those Jewish students at that campus totally deserve to be threatened and harassed right?

[LeftInTX]

29. They briefly held workers against their will. One of the workers emerged and said he was held hostage.

The newspaper reported that a maintenance worker exited the building at 12:40 a.m. after yelling to be released, telling the crowd as he left that he had been “held hostage” inside. Three other workers reportedly left some 30 minutes later after the barricades blocking one door were removed.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/intifada-anti-israel-protesters-break-into-columbia-campus-building-and-seize-it/

[MichMan]

35. False imprisonment is a felony I believe

That will look good on their resumes

[getagrip_already]

18. Just require an in person roll call

Any student or faculty who cannot present themselves or prove via a notarized proctor that they are not in the building can be put on suspension pending expulsion.

Ez enough.

[Marcus IM]

24. LOCK THEM UP. LOCK THEM UP. LOCK THEM UP.

And to the police doing the arrests: don't go easy on them, bang their heads on the car door.

Sounds about right.

[elleng]

27. Of course outsiders could be involved.

The 'violence,' however, appears caused by 'officers/police,' not 'protesters.'

[LeftInTX]

30. Police have not been called at Columbia. Protesters broke into Hamilton Hall

Link to tweet

https://www.timesofisrael.com/intifada-anti-israel-protesters-break-into-columbia-campus-building-and-seize-it/

Link to tweet

[AkFemDem]

33. Uh... holding employees HOSTAGE

While you break doors, windows, and furniture, kick in and spray paint walls, and start fires is a weeeeee bit violent. Bringing hatchets, swords, and knives on campus to a protest is a wee bit violent. Pelting riot squad watch lines with full water bottles is a wee bit violent. Hitting Jewish students in the head is a wee bit violent. Threatening to murder Jews is a wee bit violent.

Oh but hey, those nice protesters on Jan 6 weren't violent either, that was all capital police.

[Abolishinist]

48. Of course!

Why, they're merely tourists, taking selfies and minding their own business!

[LexVegas]

32. Arrest them all...then sort them out. Charge the outside agitators...expel the students. nt

[SunSeeker]

36. This tattooed douchebag looks like he's in his 30s, not a student.

[Beartracks]

37. Remember their projections... er, accusations that the Capital insurrection was a "false flag" op?

[Mosby]

38. The campus is gated, you have to have chip cards to get in.

Nt

[homegirl]

40. How many times

can a chip card be passed back to be used again?

[LeftInTX]

42. They got in. They have a professional organizer in Hamilton Hall. She's a 60 yo

[onecaliberal]

39. Some of the people arrested did not even live in the state, let alone attend the college.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

41. One thing that's struck me is how new all those tents are

Appears they were bought for their current use. Did the students or some outside group buy them?

[Voltaire2]

45. I'm pretty sure it was George Soros.

[David__77]

49. Him, or many people who work for a living and support them.

[Voltaire2]

50. Likely Amazon was involved, so Bezos is in on the conspiracy.

[2naSalit]

43. I never doubted...

That the purpose of many is to make Joe look bad.

They will make use of every opportunity to do so.

[Mosby]

46. Does it really matter that much?

The leaders are all students, the so called provocateurs are being attracted to the illegal encampment because of the pro-Hamas messaging going out.

[shrike3]

51. I look at the footage and think of Jan. 6.

Maybe there are outside agitators. There sure were during BLM.

[Traildogbob]

52. I stand strongly with

The right to protest. But…….I and my fellow service members from the Vietnam era “war for cash and power” were attacked by so many of those college protesters who were safely here in college. For the rest of us we HAD to go (with no right to vote) and try to stay alive and return. But upon coming home those protesters directed their vial assaults on us, as Baby Killers and murderers. We could never wear uniforms here, and just having short hair made us the Enemy.
The stigma they put on us lasted for 25+ years as dangerous killers.
Only after the first Gulf could we feel good about ourselves, just for surviving a war we wanted no part of, and show at least the pride in a branch we served in.
The protest of that war was extremely supported by us, that were there not by choice, but just trying to stay alive for two years.
And the privileged attending college had no clue what we faced.
I just wish these protesting today would direct their hate at the right enemies and try to educate themselves on the history of the region.
And they need to Know, not voting for Biden will allow Trump and his Bannon cabinet to wipe Gaza clean and make Kushner condos on the beaches.
Maybe they are just trying to avoid final exams?
I do see the same privilege and pampered young college kids, not fully understanding what will happen if Biden loses. The consequences could not be more dire to Palestinians.
The 68 protests, Put Nixon in and added Five years to war.
But protesting Bibi and sending him weapons I fully understand.

[Voltaire2]

55. Odd. About half the people I was in the streets with were vets. nt.

[LeftInTX]

58. I know someone who had a knife held to him after returning home in his uniform.

[Martin68]

53. The question is very reminiscent of the right wing reaction to student protests against the Vietnam War. It is not a

serious question and seems designed to distract from the fact that students are demonstrating against a mass bombardment of a densely populated urban area in which thousands of innocent civilians are being killed. Using the suggestion that "outside agitators " are involved to question the validity of student demonstrations smacks of Red Scare propaganda used to suggest that Vietnam protesters were being funded and influenced by the Soviet Union.

[global1]

54. Here's Where I Was Coming From.....

I fully accept that these students have the right to protest.

My post this morning was in response to the news that the students busted into a building on campus ala Jan 6th style and that is where I drew the line and asked the question - are we sure that all these protesters at Columbia were students?

That's when the thought entered my mind that there might have been some 'agitators' seeding the crowd of students and luring them into the violence that resulted in this building being taken over.

At this point - I don't know if I have an answer to my query about outside 'agitators' and until I know that this didn't actually happen - I'm going to stick by my suspicions.

[Martin68]

56. The fact that "there may have been agitators" is far to vague, and too often raised by right wing anti-liberal

groups. Stick to your "suspicions" if you must, but every report I've read tells a different story. A few outside ex-students or non-students would be too small a minority to have a significant effect on the demonstrations. The situation in Gaza is too dire to ascribe demonstrations to outside agitators. check out this story:

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/30/omer_bartov

[Kennah]

57. Hugo Chavez is behind this