Squad members sued for 'inciting' Columbia anti-Israel encampment
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and other members of the far-left "Squad" are facing a class action lawsuit alleging that they incited and encouraged anti-Israel protests and encampments at Columbia University earlier this year.
Five students filed the lawsuit anonymously, naming Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic Reps. Jamal Bowman of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. The lawsuit also names roughly a dozen anti-Israel organizing groups.
"The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students," the lawsuit reads.
Two of the five students behind the lawsuit are Jewish. One of them, identified only as "Tim Doe," spoke about his experience with the New York Post.
"During the protests, I witnessed numerous offensive and antisemitic signs and messages, including antisemitic skunk posters with the Star of David," he told The Post.
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"In one instance, I was walking with my non-Jewish friends when I was singled out because I was wearing my yarmulke. A leader of the pro-Palestinian protest approached our group and confronted me. He singled me out, yelling that I needed to move, and when I refused, he began to shove me out of the way," he added.
The encampment at Columbia University made international headlines, with students and even faculty participating in a campus takeover that lasted weeks.
The protests forced classes online and heavily limited access to campus buildings as students were trying to study for final exams. Columbia, like other universities across the country, ultimately had to cancel its graduation ceremony.
"Those were real damages sustained by the 36,000 students at Columbia who chose to obey university rules, go to class, and pursue their education, only to be frustrated at the finish line by the … acts of their classmates and professors, with the assistance and encouragement of outside activists," the lawsuit says.
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Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and Bowman all spoke positively of anti-Israel protests at the time.