Attorney Says Columbia Students Sue Pro-Palestinian Protest Organizers After ‘Jarring’ Experience
Attorney Daniel Suhr is representing three Columbia University students and two graduates in the challenge.
The attorney representing three graduates of Columbia University and two current students in a suit against pro-Palestinian protest organizers said his Jewish clients had a “jarring” experience when the Ivy League campus was occupied by protestors during the Spring semester.
The five plaintiffs sued students, activists, unions, and three members of Congress on Aug. 5, alleging they were denied access to in-person classes, campus facilities, and graduation and experienced bullying and harassment.
“The students described feeling so unsafe that they organized text groups to make sure that no Jewish student had to cross campus alone,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Daniel Suhr from Hughes & Suhr LLC, told The Epoch Times on Aug. 16.
The Columbia University campus became the epicenter of student anti-war protests for Gaza on April 17. Other universities nationwide followed with rallies of their own for the same cause.
“What happened at Columbia was not a spontaneous organic event,” Suhr said. “It was part of a nationwide strategy of well-networked, well-coordinated radical organizations that don’t care about breaking the law to advance their agenda.”
The class action lawsuit names federal lawmakers Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as defendants.
“The three members of the squad were illegally trespassing on Columbia’s property at a time when the university was closed to people who weren’t part of the Columbia community,” Shur alleged. “It’s very well established that the First Amendment does not protect incitement or encouraging people in the moment to engage in illegal behavior. That’s exactly what happened here with these three members of Congress where they were inciting, encouraging these students and other activists to continue breaking the law.”