"Students have a right to protest and free speech is the cornerstone of our society. But as our major concern we knew and we saw that there were those who were never concerned about free speech. They were concerned about chaos. It was about external actors hijacking peaceful protests influence students to escalate," Adams said.
"You don't have to be a majority to influence and co-op an operation," Adams said.
I don't doubt that outsiders pushed to radicalize the protests, but I wonder if faculty counts as outsiders. Columbia professors not only joined the protests but also formed human shield rings to protect the radicals.
Last night, Adams also claimed that police had arrested the wife of a 'known terrorist.' Some journalists expressed skepticism over that claim, and thus far no one has apparently offered any more info on it. NYPD officers arrested 300 people, though, so it may be taking some time to get all of that data in place.
Update: It was the wife of Sami al-Arian, convicted in 2005 for providing material support for Palestinian Islamic Jihad. I'll add a Headline entry for this.
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