Wilson and Wynne say protesters trapped them inside the building alongside their colleague Mario Torres by using chairs, tables, vending machines, chains, and zip ties to block any entrances or exits. “I was held hostage,” Wilson said. He remembers yelling, “Let me out! I’m a worker!”

Wynne said two protesters found him hiding in a hallway on the sixth floor, grabbed him by the arm and forced him to the second floor, and then went on to disable the elevator. 

“We were already barricaded in and there was no way out,” Wynne added. “I didn’t know what the fuck was going on.” 

Now the Transport Workers Union, which represents employees in service sectors including university maintenance crews, is suing Columbia for not protecting its members. In a letter to Columbia president Minouche Shafik, union president John Samuelsen wrote: “Imagine yourself coming to work and being the victim of a serious crime because Columbia University didn’t care enough about you to engage in common sense protective measures.”