In remarks outside of the Low Library at Columbia University, Speaker Mike Johnson and his colleagues from the House called for university President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik to resign over her handling of the dayslong protests at the Ivy League school and her inability to protect Jewish students on campus.
Johnson, R-La., said he is “calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.”
The announcement came moments after Johnson and fellow members of Congress met with Jewish students at Columbia, who recalled recent “heinous acts of bigotry” and instances of antisemitism on campus, the lawmakers said.
When Johnson took the podium outside the library, he was met with a chorus of boos from protesters gathered nearby. Throughout his speech, the protesters chanted, “We can’t hear you,” among other sentiments, to continually disrupt his remarks.
Johnson acknowledged the inalienable rights students in America have, but he called out the need to keep all students safe and said, “Those who are perpetrating this violence should be arrested.”
He said Congress “will not be silent” as Jewish students are “expected to run for their lives” and forced to stay home from class and attend virtually to ensure their safety.
Asked what he has to say to the students in the encampment at Columbia, Johnson said, “Go back to class and stop the madness,” adding that they “can’t intimidate fellow students and make them stay home from class.”
Earlier today, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she didn’t see the benefit of Johnson’s visit to Columbia.
“I think politicizing this and bringing the entourage to put a spotlight on this is only adding to the division,” Hochul said. “A speaker worth the title should really be trying to heal people and not divide them, so I don’t think it adds to anything.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
