Make your voice heard. Take whatever political position you wish. Speak freely, even if others dislike what you say.
If, however, you force you way into a college library, if you refuse to leave when confronted by campus security, and if you happen to enjoy temporary residence in the United States on a student visa, then you should expect to have your guest status revoked. Nothing about this should strike anyone as remotely controversial — no matter the larger political context.
Late Wednesday on the social media platform X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded to pro-Palestinian protesters’ takeover of a library reading room on the Columbia University campus by pledging to take action against any noncitizen lawbreakers.
“We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library,” Rubio wrote. “Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”
We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library.
Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 8, 2025
According to WABC-TV in New York, the disruption began around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman explained that the size of the protest, as well as the protesters’ refusal to leave the premises or even to identify themselves, necessitated bold action.
“Due to the number of individuals participating in the disruption inside and outside of the building, a large group of people attempting to force their way into Butler Library creating a safety hazard, and what we believe to be the significant presence of individuals not affiliated with the university, Columbia has taken the necessary step of requesting the presence of NYPD to assist in securing the building and the safety of our community,” Shipman said.
Should these agitators face significant punishment?
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned the protesters’ behavior and pledged support for New York’s Jewish community.
“As I’ve said repeatedly, New York City will always defend the right to peaceful protest, but we will never tolerate lawlessness,” Adams said in the statement. “To our Jewish New Yorkers, especially the students at Columbia who feel threatened or unsafe attending class because of these events: Know that your mayor stands with you and will always work to keep you safe.”
The intervention of the New York Police Department resulted in at least 80 arrests, per WPIX in New York.
Of course, the protesters likely timed the disruption for maximum annoyance. After all, many students sought the peace and quiet of the library in order to study for final exams.
“Requesting the presence of the NYPD was not the outcome we wanted, but that it was necessary to secure the safety of our community. For those not protesting, it was a day lost of studying for final exams in the library,” Shipman said in a statement.
The protest resulted in injuries to two public safety officers.
Then, as night fell, tensions flared outside the library.
In the following video, posted to X late Wednesday, note the remarkable restraint exhibited by the NYPD. Conversely, note the aggression and bellicosity of multiple protesters caught on camera.
The second half of the video showed protesters marching and chanting “Intifada Revolution!”
Of course, one cannot help noting the presence of large numbers of non-Palestinians among the protesters. These are undoubtedly the same young narcissists who marched with Black Lives Matter in 2020 and before that with whatever fashionable cause came along.
WARNING: The following videos contains vulgar language and scenes of violence that may offend some readers.
NOW: Violent Clashes as Police arrest and push against Pro-Palestine protesters as hundreds march through streets outside Columbia University pic.twitter.com/uGwDi7KBhp
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 8, 2025
A second video, also posted to X, showed some of the arrests and their aftermath.
Here, around the 35-second mark, a close-up of a building window with an Israeli flag calls to mind Adams’ pledge.
Later in the clip, when a bus load of arrested protesters passed by, cheers erupted from the gathered crowd.
NOW: Massive Police line outside of Columbia University makes arrests as they clear the street for NYPD busses removing arrested protesters from Butler library. pic.twitter.com/SIDmmfPPGy
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 8, 2025
The dominant impression one gets from those videos is this: Imagine what those narcissistic protesters would do if they were in charge of anything. Aside from their own and others who think as they do, whose rights would they respect?
But one need not go even that far. Let us give the benefit of the doubt elsewhere. Assume what certainly holds true in individual cases: that some legitimately peaceful protesters have good intentions and do regard their cause as righteous.
That fact changes nothing about Rubio’s visa-related post.
The analogy has flaws, as all do, but imagine, for instance, an American student living in Paris in 1954. That student, along with 100 or so collaborators, then participated in a lawless takeover of the library at the Sorbonne. Their cause, opposition to French involvement in Vietnam, seemed righteous enough to them.
Would that student have any grounds for objecting to his or her removal from France?
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