New York City Warned of 'Radicalization' Infiltrating City

New York City officials warned of "radicalization" infiltrating the city amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at different college campuses, including Columbia University in Manhattan.

During a press conference on Wednesday, New York Police Department (NYPD) Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner said that there is "a concern around radicalization" in the city. She stopped short of calling it "homegrown terrorism" but said officials were seeing a concerning "trajectory" among young people.

Mayor Eric Adams made similar comments during the press conference, saying, "There is a movement to radicalize young people, and I'm not going to wait until it's done and all of a sudden acknowledge the existence of it."

"This is a global problem that young people are being influenced by those who are professionals at radicalizing our children and I'm not going to allow that to happen as the mayor of the city of New York," Adams added.

Newsweek reached out to the NYPD and Columbia University via email for comment.

On Tuesday evening, NYPD officers conducted an operation to respond to the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" at Columbia University, after pro-Palestinian protesters breached an academic building and barricaded themselves inside. Over 100 people were arrested.

The Context

Over the past few weeks, pro-Palestinian protests have taken place at several different college campuses across the U.S. At Columbia University, students repeatedly called for the school to divest from Israel amid their ongoing war in Gaza.

Tensions across college campuses have remained high since October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that left 1,200 people dead and saw over 200 more taken hostage. More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the war began, The Associated Press reported, citing local health officials.

What We Know

During the press conference on Wednesday, NYPD officials provided details of an operation carried out at Columbia University on Tuesday evening, following a request from school officials.

Adams said that Columbia University alerted the NYPD of "outside agitators" who were involved in the protests and "training this movement."

"Approximately 300 people were arrested at Columbia and City College," Adams said. "We are processing the arrests to distinguish between who we're actual students and who were not supposed to be on the ground."

Views

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Columbia confirmed that school officials requested NYPD assistance, saying, "After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice."

Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine responded to the NYPD operation on X, formerly Twitter, saying that police "used tasers and tear gas on students" inside Hamilton Hall.

"THIS IS THE SCENE @COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND THE NYPD DID NOT WANT YOU TO SEE. THIS IS WHY THEY FORCED EVERYONE OUT," they wrote.

What's Next

Similar protests have continued at other college campuses in New York City, including New York University, City College, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and the New School.

Protests have erupted at Yale, Harvard, Northwestern University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and other universities across the country.

In the past two weeks, police have swept through several other campuses, leading to more than 1,000 arrests nationwide. But in some cases, universities have come to agreements with protesters.

Update 5/1/24, 10:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

Update 5/1/24, 11:09 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.