House Speaker Heckled at Columbia University Amid Protests Against Gaza War
LOS ANGELES — In a tense visit to Columbia University, the leader of the US House of Representatives faced heckling as protests against the war in Gaza continued to spread across US campuses.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson accused Columbia officials of losing control of the situation and called for university president Minouche Shafik to step down.
Police in Texas and California confronted campus protesters, leading to dozens of arrests.
At Columbia, pro-Palestinian demonstrators demanded Ms. Shafik’s resignation over the police action taken against the protests.
Johnson, along with other Republican lawmakers, held a news conference at Columbia on Wednesday afternoon after briefly meeting with Ms. Shafik.
Dismissing the protests as legally protected free speech, Johnson criticized Columbia for not restoring order on campus and failing to protect Jewish students amid concerns about antisemitism.
“This is dangerous,” Johnson stated. “We respect free speech and diversity of ideas, but there is a lawful way to do that, and this is not it.”
He urged the students to return to class and cease the protests.
Despite the disruptions from protesters during his remarks, Johnson raised the possibility of calling in National Guard troops, a move that New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had no plans for.
Students at the Ivy League university set up a protest encampment a week ago, leading to clashes with police and subsequent negotiations on the camp’s size and ongoing talks.
Page Fortna, a political science professor at Columbia, witnessed objectionable incidents during the protests but disputed claims of widespread antisemitism on campus.
Outside agitators were blamed for stirring up the protests, as some Jewish students expressed concerns about the campus environment.
Protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza spread to various campuses across the country, leading to arrests and confrontations with authorities.
Activists called for universities to divest from companies supporting Israel’s war in Gaza, a move Israel strongly denies as genocide.
The war in Gaza began with an attack on southern Israel, resulting in casualties on both sides.
More than 34,180 people, mostly children and women, have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to Hamas-run health authorities. — BBC
