The police response to the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University is putting in stark relief public fractures in the Democratic coalition on Capitol Hill.
Police in riot gear ended a student takeover Tuesday of a building on the campus.
Manhattan Congressman Jerry Nadler, a long-serving Jewish Democrat, was a student at Columbia during the 1968 protests there and says he disagreed with the student takeover of Hamilton Hall on the campus then, as he does now. He argues it violates the "civil liberties of the students and faculty who wanted to attend classes or take exams."
Nadler said the police on Tuesday appeared to behave “properly.”
By contrast, he said, “In 1968, they staged a riot. They were clubbing kids, dragging kids down the steps by the feet so their heads banged on every concrete step.”
But progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman says the sheer show of force by the NYPD Tuesday was simply over the top.
“I was just blown away that this was New York City within New York state, Democratically-controlled, supposedly liberal, progressive values,” Bowman said.
Asked if he believes demonstrators crossed a line by taking the school building, Bowman responded, “Did they cross the line taking control of a building versus infants starving to death in Gaza? Which one weighs more heavily on the consciousness and the morality of our so-called liberal nation?”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn said the NYPD’s actions looked to be “thorough, professional, and they exercised a degree of calm in a very tense situation.”
He is downplaying the disagreements among Democrats.
“There will be times that there will be a difference of opinion as to the right approach on a given issue. But we will always remain unified in our sense of purpose, which is to solve problems for hardworking American families,” he said.
A day after the NYPD stepped in at Columbia, the U.S. House of Representatives advanced legislation requiring the Department of Education to use a particular definition of antisemitism when fighting discrimination.
The legislation passed overwhelmingly but with notable dissent amongst Democrats and Republicans alike. The vote was 320 to 91.
Some, like Nadler, argued the bill could infringe on civil liberties.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican running in a suburban New York swing district with a sizable number of Jewish voters, is sponsoring the legislation. He says his bill is about forcing college administrators to crack down on antisemitism.
“And if they fail to do so, then there needs to be consequences including defunding these institutions of federal dollars, including student aid,” he said.
Among the New York delegation, Reps. Nadler, Bowman, Yvette Clarke, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Nydia Velazquez voted against the legislation. Rep. Nick Langworthy did note vote.
All other New York House lawmakers voted for the bill.