This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.By Bernd Debusmann Jr in New York and Mike WendlingBBC NewsThe leader of the US House of Representatives was heckled in a tense visit to Columbia University as protests against the war in Gaza continue to spread across US campuses.Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Columbia officials had lost control of the situation. He called on university president Nemat Shafik to step down.In Texas and California, police clashed with pro-Palestinian student protesters, making arrests in Austin. At Columbia, pro-Palestinian demonstrators also called for Ms Shafik’s resignation over police action there against the protests.Mr Johnson held a news conference at Columbia along with other Republican lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon after briefly meeting Ms Shafik. The House Speaker dismissed suggestions that the protests were legally protected free speech. He said that Columbia had not acted to restore order on campus and had failed to protect Jewish students amid concerns about antisemitism on and around campus.”This is dangerous,” Mr Johnson said. “We respect free speech, we respect diversity of ideas, but there is a way to do that in a lawful manner and that’s not what this is.” “My message to the students inside the encampment is go back to class and stop the nonsense,” he said.The protesters, some of whom were just steps away from the podium behind a metal barrier, yelled and heckled him throughout his remarks, including chants of: “We can’t hear you.”Mr Johnson also raised the possibility of National Guard troops being called in – something New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said she had no plans to do.Students at the Ivy League university in Manhattan set up a protest encampment a week ago. On 18 April, the university asked New York city police to clear the camp, and officers arrested about 100 people.Protesters later returned to the area with more tents and placards.University officials are now negotiating with protest leaders over the size of the camp and talks are expected to continue into Thursday.Students have also been allowed to choose to attend classes online due to safety concerns.Columbia protesters vow to remain until demands metPage Fortna, a professor of political science at Columbia, told the BBC she had seen a number of “highly objectionable” incidents during the protests, including an Israeli flag being ripped from a student’s hand, and “extremely problematic” comments. However, Ms Fortna added that she had seen no physical violence against Jewish students on campus and she called accusations of widespread antisemitism being made by Mr Johnson and other Republican lawmakers “exaggerated”.”There’s a real difference in the tone of the conversation outside the gates, and what’s actually happening on campus,” she said.In interviews this week, some demonstrators argued that incidents of harassment of Jewish students had been rare and blown out of proportion by those opposed to their demands. New York police and school officials have also said “outside agitators” stirred up the protests. Outside the campus on Wednesday, a masked protester stood on a street corner shouting antisemitic slur …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.By Bernd Debusmann Jr in New York and Mike WendlingBBC NewsThe leader of the US House of Representatives was heckled in a tense visit to Columbia University as protests against the war in Gaza continue to spread across US campuses.Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Columbia officials had lost control of the situation. He called on university president Nemat Shafik to step down.In Texas and California, police clashed with pro-Palestinian student protesters, making arrests in Austin. At Columbia, pro-Palestinian demonstrators also called for Ms Shafik’s resignation over police action there against the protests.Mr Johnson held a news conference at Columbia along with other Republican lawmakers on Wednesday afternoon after briefly meeting Ms Shafik. The House Speaker dismissed suggestions that the protests were legally protected free speech. He said that Columbia had not acted to restore order on campus and had failed to protect Jewish students amid concerns about antisemitism on and around campus.”This is dangerous,” Mr Johnson said. “We respect free speech, we respect diversity of ideas, but there is a way to do that in a lawful manner and that’s not what this is.” “My message to the students inside the encampment is go back to class and stop the nonsense,” he said.The protesters, some of whom were just steps away from the podium behind a metal barrier, yelled and heckled him throughout his remarks, including chants of: “We can’t hear you.”Mr Johnson also raised the possibility of National Guard troops being called in – something New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said she had no plans to do.Students at the Ivy League university in Manhattan set up a protest encampment a week ago. On 18 April, the university asked New York city police to clear the camp, and officers arrested about 100 people.Protesters later returned to the area with more tents and placards.University officials are now negotiating with protest leaders over the size of the camp and talks are expected to continue into Thursday.Students have also been allowed to choose to attend classes online due to safety concerns.Columbia protesters vow to remain until demands metPage Fortna, a professor of political science at Columbia, told the BBC she had seen a number of “highly objectionable” incidents during the protests, including an Israeli flag being ripped from a student’s hand, and “extremely problematic” comments. However, Ms Fortna added that she had seen no physical violence against Jewish students on campus and she called accusations of widespread antisemitism being made by Mr Johnson and other Republican lawmakers “exaggerated”.”There’s a real difference in the tone of the conversation outside the gates, and what’s actually happening on campus,” she said.In interviews this week, some demonstrators argued that incidents of harassment of Jewish students had been rare and blown out of proportion by those opposed to their demands. New York police and school officials have also said “outside agitators” stirred up the protests. Outside the campus on Wednesday, a masked protester stood on a street corner shouting antisemitic slur …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
