WASHINGTON, DC –  Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-12) made the following statement in response to the recent protests at Columbia University: 

"Vandalism is unacceptable. Occupying university buildings is unacceptable. Interfering with the rights of other students to study in the library is a violation of their rights. Columbia had to act to remove the protesters who occupied Butler Library. Those who interfere with the rights of other students must be penalized. Those who vandalize buildings must be prosecuted.

Antisemitism on campus is a real concern, and Columbia is rightly taking it seriously. My Republican colleagues and the Trump Administration seek to stifle academic freedom and free speech, defund vital medical and scientific research, and attack institutions of higher learning under the false pretext of fighting antisemitism. Their real goal is control and authoritarianism.

My grandstanding Republican colleagues and Trump Administration officials are not trying to protect students; they are weaponizing antisemitism to undermine academic institutions that stand as a bulwark against Trump’s backsliding into fascism."