Columbia students who witnessed anti-Israel protesters' building takeover speaks out: 'We feel alone'
Two students at Columbia University are describing the anarchic scenes at Columbia University overnight, when demonstrators took over an academic building. The students say the lax security on campus – where anti-Israel protesters have been running wild while outside agitators have infiltrated the campus – has left them feeling abandoned and alone.
Student Jessica Schwalb posted wild videos on X of anti-Israel protesters smashing through glass windows with a hammer to gain access to Hamilton Hall, an academic building used by the dean and other senior offices.
"[It was] almost like a scene from ‘The Shining,’" Schwalb told "Fox and Friends" on Tuesday morning. "And I also saw a student who was trying to prevent them from barricading the doors and then he was essentially corralled by [a] human chain of pro-Palestinian protesters and basically lifted up and shoved out and called a Zionist."
"He was physically assaulted, and again, there's utter silence from public safety, from NYPD. So, we feel alone on this campus."
Another student, Jonas Du, who is the editor-in-chief at the monthly magazine Columbia Sundial, says he was studying for finals when the chaos began.
"It was a very surreal scene. I was in Butler Library, our main library, getting ready for finals... I walk out, the encampment is alive, everyone's marching around and everyone's saying they're going to occupy Hamilton Hall," Du recalled. "And instantly I knew that this was an escalation because, back in 1968, this was the big event that put Columbia on the map in terms of being a very activist school, and it really did a lot of harm to the university’s reputation."
"They occupied Hamilton Hall back in 1968 to protest the Vietnam War, and now they're doing the same thing because they see this as a continuation of the same movement," Du continued. "This is a very important building… this is where the dean of Columbia Colleges is, it's where the center for the core curriculum is and that's the centerpiece of every student's academic experience."
Du said Columbia University has lost control of its gates and that outside agitators have infiltrated the campus.
"We learned tonight, [and] there's video of this that we've posted on Twitter where people are climbing through the windows from the street. People who are presumably not affiliated climbing into the windows of a dormitory building, coming onto campus and presumably joining the protest. So Columbia has completely lost control of its gates."
Schwalb, who is Jewish, said the campus is now too dangerous for her, even though a new security checkpoint has been set up.
"I don't feel safe because there are so many reports -- and I have talked to people who've confessed on camera -- that they're getting IDs from students and they're not student[s] and then they just swipe in," Schwalb said.
"They even say how public safety doesn't look at the picture of the ID, they just see that it's a green light, and they let you through. There was certainly many people on campus today, there were professional burglars who helped break into Hamilton Hall and again there's no response from public safety. They were truly nowhere to be found tonight."
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Schwalb said it is terrifying to be part of the Jewish community on campus given the widespread antisemitic behavior at the university.
"There are some kids who haven't been on campus in the last two weeks because of the fear and there was a Jewish professor and his ID card was deactivated because the university couldn't guarantee his safety," Schwalb added.
"Yet they let other professors who Nemat Shafik in her congressional hearing said would be fired and wouldn't be allowed on campus, and students who are suspended are still on campus leading the chants. So it's just like the system is clearly broken on campus."
Du echoed those sentiments and said that the university was putting the interests of the protesters over the interest in the rights of all the other students who are paying $80,000 in tuition fees.
"All around Hamilton Hall are freshman dorms where people are trying to sleep. They were yelling things 3 a.m. into the night and the Butler Library is right there. That's where people are trying to study for finals and it also means that classes have gone hybrid," Du said.
"They are prioritizing what the protesters want, which is disruption over the interests of other students, and that's the policy of the administration, and I don't think it's going to hold up very well in the public eye."
The students are demanding three things from the university: divest their financial support of Israel, become more transparent with the university's investments and provide blanket amnesty to students who have taken part in the disruptive, weekslong demonstration.
However, Du said some of his friends at the college have been radicalized, yet they do not fully understand the current situation in Gaza.
"What we're seeing now, it's an echo chamber. They're living together in the encampment, they're going to these protests together, and it's almost it's cult-like," Du said.
"A lot of people would describe it as such because you have leaders saying ‘from the river to the sea,' and then they just mindlessly repeat it. A lot of them probably don't even know what river and what sea."
"And because of the echo chamber, we've seen a lot of our, you know, what once were good friends get sort of dragged into this movement and it's very heartbreaking."
Both Du and Schwalb are calling for the university to take decisive action to quell the protests.
"My message to the university president would be figure out how to take back control of the university. You can't negotiate with students who have shown that they're willing to be arrested to break the rules," Du said.
"Once you've decided that you're not going to tolerate the encampments, don't start negotiating with the protesters again. Take decisive action to maintain a safe learning environment, a safe academic and intellectual environment, especially for the Jewish community."
Schwalb, meanwhile, said she wants to see the protesters face stiff consequences.
"Part of me really wants to see NYPD force these students to face consequences for their very belligerent, very violent actions and another part of me understands that this movement will only become more inflamed if they do face more arrests," Schwalb admitted.
"And it would almost make this problem worse. So, I'm thinking maybe more academic punishments like failure, automatic failure of classes, or just some other more painful long-term disciplinary action that can affect their job prospects upon graduation, because a lot of these people are seniors or juniors."
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.