AOC crit­i­cizes ‘hor­rif­ic’ deci­sion to deploy police at Colum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty protests

Rep. Alexan­dria Oca­sio-Cortez (D‑NY) crit­i­cized Colum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty for send­ing in New York City police to man­age pro-Pales­tin­ian pro­test­ers.
It was a rare defense from a mem­ber of Con­gress of the pro­test­ers, who have seen strong bipar­ti­san con­dem­na­tion in recent days. The New York Demo­c­rat denounced the uni­ver­si­ty for send­ing in the police against the pro­test­ers, tak­ing spe­cif­ic issue with the deploy­ment of the New York Police Department’s Strate­gic Response Group.

Police in Riot gear stand guard as demon­stra­tors chant slo­gans out­side the Colum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty cam­pus, Thurs­day, April 18, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

“Not only did Colum­bia make the hor­rif­ic deci­sion to mobi­lize NYPD on their own stu­dents, but the units called in have some of the most vio­lent rep­u­ta­tions on the forc …