Eric Adams Doesn’t Seem to Know How Many Protestors Arrested at Columbia Were the ‘Outside Agitators’ He Insisted Were There
New York Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly claimed that some of the antiwar protestors arrested at Columbia University were “outside agitators,” but is refusing to say how many. In a Wednesday night appearance on CNN, he said the university will “make the determination.”
Columbia officials requested the NYPD come to its Morningside Heights campus to remove a group of protestors occupying Hamilton Hall. Demonstrations at the school and others across the country have reached a fever pitch as Israel continues its war in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. On Tuesday, police breached the building and removed the protestors, arresting more than 100 at Columbia.
“These were professionals that were here, and I just want to send a clear message out that there are people who are harmful and who are trying to radicalize our children and we cannot ignore this,” Adams told MSNBC.
Hours later, he appeared on CNN’s OutFront, where host Erin Burnett asked him point blank how many such “outside agitators” were arrested.
“You have talked, Mayor, about the ‘outside agitators’ at Columbia – people that you’ve referenced that you say have a known history of trying to create chaos and are not actually connected to Columbia University,” she said. “Do you have any ability at this point to tell us how many of those were ‘outside agitators’ and how many of them were students at Columbia University?”
“Well, I’ve always suspected that something was problematic when I first saw this,” he replied. “And it wasn’t until the intelligence division gave me a briefing and confirmed my concerns. We had clear evidence of training that was conducted by an outside agitator that was not a student, did not belong on the campus.”
Adams went on to say Columbia sent him a letter saying there were “outside individuals” protesting on campus. However, the mayor did not specify whether officials were told this before or after the university closed its gates last week and required a student ID to enter the premises.
Burnett asked if the city would eventually reveal how many non-students were arrested.
“Are we going to get a breakdown from the Mayor’s Office, from the NYPD on the breakdown, though?” she said. “How many were students and how many weren’t?”
Adams replied:
Here’s what we can do– we’re allowed to do. We are going to give the complete list of those who were arrested and turn it over to the school. And the school will make the determination. We’re not going to release students’ names. But the school can make the determination of giving you a breakdown or turn in publicly of the difference between students and non-students. They would have that authorization to do so.
Burnett did not ask Adams to reveal any names. Rather, the host asked for a numerical breakdown of students and non-students. That the mayor said the list of arrestees’ names will be given to the school to “make the determination” would appear to indicate that Adams and city officials do not know how many “outside agitators” were arrested in the latest raid at Columbia, if any.
Watch above via CNN.
