NEW YORK CITY — Jewish students who huddled inside a Cooper Union library Wednesday while pro-Palestinian protesters banged on its doors weren’t in any danger, a top NYPD official said.
“There was no direct threat, there was no damage and there was no danger to any students at that school,” said Chief of Patrol John Chell on Thursday.
But Chell’s assurance did little quell widespread outrage over the protest, which was captured in a viral video.
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Council Member Inna Vernikov — who faced criticism and arrest for carrying a gun to another protest — led a demonstration calling for the resignation of Cooper Union President Laura Sparks.
“If you cannot do your duty and keep Jewish students safe on your campus, while you escape through the back door with campus security, RESIGN!” she tweeted.
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The tense protest Thursday at Cooper Union, a private college in the East Village, touched a nerve as many online contended that Jewish students had to barricade themselves in a library to escape pro-Palestinian protesters who banged on the doors for minutes.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine called the incident “deeply disturbing.”
“It’s absolutely appalling that Jewish students were intimidated and harassed this way,” he tweeted.
But Chell cast a slightly different portrait of what happened.
He said roughly 70 pro-Palestinian students and 20 pro-Israel students had squared off in a walkout for roughly two hours.
Plainclothes NYPD officers were nearby the entire time, Chell said.
Eventually, roughly 20 pro-Palestinian protesters then walked back into campu and failed to swipe into the school, Chell said. They spent about a half hour chanting and talking at the president’s office before they left, he said.
Their path took them past a library, which prompted a school official to close its doors, he said.
“The students were not barricaded,” he said. “The doors were open but closed.”
Chell said the protesters did bang on the library’s doors and windows for roughly 10 minutes before they left.
He said police will change how they address protests going forward.
“Today, there will be a uniformed presence outside that school,” he said. “Because, again, these kids are all students who go to school and some share the same classes.”
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