CNN anchor Erin Burnett pressed New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) on his claims of “outside agitators” at the recent pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
“Do you have any ability at this point to tell us how many of those were ‘outside agitators’ and how many of them were students at Columbia University?” Burnett said on her CNN show Wednesday, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Adams responded that there was “clear evidence of training that was conducted by an outside agitator, that was not a student, did not belong on the campus.”
“In addition to that, we saw people participating and allowing people access to Hamilton Hall,” Adams continued, referring to the building on Columbia’s campus that was taken over by protesters Tuesday morning.
Adams then said he “received a letter from the school” and that in that letter, the school claimed that there were “outside individuals who were on the grounds, [participating in] this activity.”
Burnett then questioned if there would be a “breakdown” from Adams’s office or the New York City Police Department on how many of the people arrested Tuesday night were actually Columbia students.
“Here’s what we can do, we’re allowed to do,” Adams said. “We’re going to give the complete list of those who are arrested and turn it over to the school, and the school will make the determination. We’re not going to release student’s name, but the school can make the determination of giving you a breakdown … of the difference between students and nonstudents. They would have that authorization to do so.”
Violence erupted at Columbia the previous night, as NYPD cracked down on pro-Palestinian protesters at the school.
The New York mayor said Tuesday at a press conference that the protests at Columbia were “co-opted by professional outside agitators.”