Students Sue Squad Members for Encouraging Columbia Unrest

One of the terrific perks of being a member of the Left is that you get to enjoy immunity from the things you say and do. You can count on the media and your fellow travelers to justify your words and actions, minimize their impact, or even make them disappear on command. This is particularly true if you happen to be a high-ranking member of the progressive movement — especially an elected one.

But Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, and the ever-effervescent AOC are facing a class-action lawsuit by a group of anonymous Columbia students for stoking the fires of antisemitism at the school earlier this year. According to a report in the New York Post, in addition to the three members of the Squad, the five students have included several groups in the suit, such as Israel in Our Lifetime. 

The suit states in part, "The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students.” It also reads:

The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students.

It also states that those in the encampment and their supporters “not only consciously disregarded the rights of others, but the impact on the rights of others was the point of the protest: the more disruption [they] could cause for the University and the [students], the more leverage they thought they would have for their agenda.” 

The Squad members are accused of "encouraging and inciting the protests and being "outside champions." During the chaos at Columbia, AOC posted this:

If any kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall on the mayor and univ presidents.

Other leaders and schools have found a safe, de-escalatory path. This is the opposite of leadership and endangers public safety. A nightmare in the making.

I urge the Mayor to reverse course. https://t.co/52eAEfbJjq

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 1, 2024

Two of the students who filed the suit are Jewish, and all have chosen to remain anonymous out of concern for their safety. They each have harrowing tales of the abuse and threats they faced on the Columbia campus. One student said he was told, "Keep walking, Zionist," and was followed by protesters who continued to scream at him. Another student said:

In one instance, I was walking with my non-Jewish friends when I was singled out because I was wearing my yarmulke. A leader of the pro-Palestinian protest approached our group and confronted me. He singled me out, yelling that I needed to move, and when I refused, he began to shove me out of the way.

Another said he had to endure a slew of antisemitic propaganda and posters.

While it is true that the students at the Columbia encampment behaved like entitled, feral animals, a constellation of people who either wanted to look the other way or agreed with their screeds, tacitly or otherwise, enabled and encouraged them. That includes three members of Congress. The suit may take some time to wend its way through the courts and may even be largely quixotic. but Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, and Ilhar cannot be allowed to fan the flames of violence and walk away without being held accountable for their rhetoric.