Dozens of protesters took over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York, naming it Hind’s Hall, early Tuesday morning.
The protesters occupied the classrooms and prevented one of the workers in the building from leaving the school.
According to the Times of Israel, the protesters put out a banner reading “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian child allegedly killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.
The protesters demanded that Columbia provide amnesty to participants in the demonstrations and end its financial relationships with companies tied to Israel. They also demanded that the country be transparent about other investments by the Ivy League.
In addition, the protesters vowed to occupy Hamilton Hall until Columbia met their needs.
However, an anti-Israel protester went viral online after telling members of the media that the protesters were at risk of dying or becoming ill if authorities did not deliver food and water to them.
The protester, identified as Johannah King-Slutzky, made this remark at a press conference on Tuesday, where she debriefed the media on requests from the protesters occupying the building.
“It’s ultimately a question of what kind of community and obligation Columbia feels to its students,” King-Slutzky said. “Do you want students to die of dehydration and starvation or get severely ill, even if they disagree with you?”
“But they put themselves deliberately into that situation and position,” a reporter asked.
“We have all undertaken risk to our safety, our careers, our education, knowing that it shouldn’t be that way, but it is that way because of Columbia’s violence against us, and retaliation against us, and occasionally members of the public’s retaliation against us,” she said.
“It seems like you are saying we want to be revolutionaries. We want to take over this building now. Would you please bring us some food,” another reporter asked.
“No one is asking them to bring anything,” King-Slutzky responded.” We are asking them to stop us from bringing basic humanitarian aid.”
King-Slutzky’s remarks sparked reactions from different people who were solely against her.
Columbia student demands that anti-Israel protesters who broke into Hamilton Hall deserve "basic humanitarian aid", claims students could die of "dehydration and starvation".
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) May 1, 2024
“These are not the remarks, let alone the arguments of a serious person,” Yale professor Nicholas Christakis wrote. “This is how someone who has never been challenged to defend her views with facts and reason speaks. This is someone who thinks she is winning the battle of ideas simply by articulating her desires. Someone her university has not taught.”