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AG Bonta “noted there is a political pendulum swinging away from treating unhoused people with compassion because ‘now people are at wit’s end with homelessness. The pendulum swings come from emotional decisions. When fear or anger go up, reasonable policy-making goes down. And so I try to be a voice of reason, and not everyone listens to me.’”

Columbia University President announces decision to arrest student protestors.
#ColumbiaUniversity #FreePalestine #NYC #NewYorkCity
Fwd: Addressing Unfolding Events on Campus
Thu, Apr 18 at 1:28PM
- Forwarded message - From: Minouche Shafik <officeofthepresident@columbia.edu> Date: Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 13:22
Subject: Addressing Unfolding Events on Campus
To: <PRESIDENT@lists.columbia.ed>
To the Columbia University community:
This morning. I had to make a decision that I hoped would never be necessary. I have always said that the safety of our community was my top priority and that we needed to preserve an environment where everyone could learn in a supportive context. Out of an abundance of concern for the safety of Columbia's campus, I authorized the New York Police Department to begin clearing the encampment from the South Lawn of Morningside campus that had been set up by students in the early hours of Wednesday morming.
I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances. The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies. Through direct conversations and in writing, the university provided multiple notices of these violations. including a written warning at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday notifying students who remained in the encampment as of 9:00 p.m. that they would face suspension pending investigation. We also tried through a number of channels to engage with their concerns and offered to continue discussions if they agreed to disperse
I regret that all of these attempts to resolve the situation were rejected by the students involved. As a result, NYPD officers are now on campus and the process of clearing the encampment is underway.
Protests have a storied history at Columbia and are an essential component of free speech in America and on our campus. We work hard to balance the rights of students to express political views with the need to protect other students from rhetoric that amouits to harassment and discrimination. We updated our protest policy to allow demonstrations on very short notice and in prime locations in the middle of campus while still allowing students to get to class, and fabs and libraries to operate. The current encampment violates all of the new policies, severely disrupts campus life, and creates a harassing and intimidating environment for many of our students
Columbia is committed to academic freedom and to the opportunity for students and faculty to engage in political expression—within established rules and with respect for the safety of all. The policies we have in place around demonstrations are in place to support both the right to expression and the safety and functioning of our university.
Prior to taking this action. I complied with the requirements of Section 444 of the University Statutes.
This is a challenging moment and these are steps that I deeply regret having to take. I encourage us all to show compassion and remember the values of empathy and respect that draw us together as a Columbia comnminity.
Sincerely,
Minouche Shafik
President, Columbia University in the City of New York