The Department of Justice announced it will investigate recent events at Columbia University for potential terrorism offenses that occurred over the last two years during campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war.
“Let me be clear: Hamas is a terrorist organization. It has the blood of American citizens on its hands,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said during a speech to the Justice Department on Friday. “Any person engaging in the material support of terrorism will be prosecuted. This includes those who threaten acts of violence on behalf of Hamas in the United States or even pay Hamas in the United States.”
The official also mentioned a Thursday search at the university by Department of Homeland Security agents in an immigration investigation, and added that “we are also looking at whether Columbia’s handling of earlier incidents violated civil rights laws and included terrorism crimes.”
The Independent has contacted Columbia for comment.
It’s unclear precisely what conduct the Justice Department is reviewing for terror crimes.
During protests on campus that began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, student activists formed an encampment in a central quad and later occupied a university building. The demonstrations were later dispersed by scores of riot police.
The university has been under intense scrutiny as part of the White House’s push to combat antisemitism on campus, and recently lost $400 million in federal funding on allegations its not doing enough to stop campus hate.
Last week, ICE agents arrested recent graduate and protester Mahmoud Khalil in a university-owned apartment, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined the leader’s actions were a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.
Thus far, the White House has cited pro-Hamas fliers it says are linked to a protest group Khalil helped lead on campus, though it hasn’t produced public evidence the activist created, was aware of, or distributed such materials.
Khalil, a legal U.S. permanent resident, has challenged the arrest, alleging he’s being targeted for protected First Amendment activity.
Last week, it also revoked the visa of Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral student who the administration alleged was “advocating for violence and terrorism,” though officials didn’t immediately make public what evidence these claims were based on. Srinivasan “self-deported” this week, according to the White House.
Previously the White House gave a reprieve to individuals accused of more directly violent conduct , pardoning more than 1,000 people over their participation in the pro-Trump, January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that sought to stop the certification of the 2020 election, a demonstration linked to five deaths and over 100 injured police officers.
Charging American activists with domestic terrorism is highly controversial.
Civil rights advocates have expressed concern over Georgia officials filing terrorism charges against activists who protested the development of a police training center outside of Atlanta.
The movement against the “Cop City” project has largely remained peaceful and used traditional methods of non-violent civil disobedience, though activists in some cases have damaged police vehicles and construction equipment.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in 2023 called the conspiracy and terror charges against the activists “dangerous and dystopian,” while the American Civil Liberties Union warned such charges might have snuffed out past efforts like the Civil Rights Movement, which involved sit-ins and other protests that involved occupying physical spaces.
On the right, meanwhile, commentators and officials have been pushing for a more aggressive response to campus protests and other recent activist demonstrations.
A recent opinion piece in the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal argues that recent protests ranging from blocking highways to campus encampments represent a new form of “civil terrorism,” led by activists who “seek the demise of the West through organized criminal mayhem.”
