BUZZ
‘The university set up the situation and ended up putting them into that situation,’ lawyer says
Two janitors at Columbia University who allege pro-Palestinian protesters trapped them inside a building recently reached a settlement with the institution in connection to its larger agreement with the Trump administration.
The settlement with Lester Wilson and Mario Torres comes out of the $20 million that Columbia promised the Trump administration it would pay “employees who alleged they suffered civil rights violations,” the New York Post reports.
Exactly how much Wilson and Torres will receive from that amount was not disclosed, according to the report.
A leader of the Brandeis Center, a legal organization focused on Jewish Americans’ civil rights, said the janitors’ settlement is the first step toward rectifying the wrongs they endured.
“The university set up the situation and ended up putting them into that situation, now the issue is holding accountable those who carried it out and were responsible for the takeover and the assault,” center president Alyza Lewin told the NY Post:
While that wraps up Wilson’s and Torres’ battle against Columbia, the two men are still forging ahead with their lawsuit against more than 40 protesters whom they allege held them hostage during the Hamilton Hall riot last year. …
Neither Wilson nor Torres is Jewish, but the two men were horrified and traumatized by the storm of anti-Israel protests that ripped through campus in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
In April 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters took over Hamilton Hall on campus while Wilson and Torres were still inside. The janitors allege in the lawsuit that protesters “trapped” them inside the building, and they had to fight their way out.
Torres was shoved and struck on the back repeatedly, and one masked protester threatened him, saying, “I’m going to get twenty guys up here to f— you up,’” according to the lawsuit.
Wilson said protesters also pushed him repeatedly and shoved him into furniture, the complaint alleges.
Since then, neither have returned to work, according to the report.
In their case against the university, the janitors also alleged Columbia leaders ignored repeated acts of vandalism since the fall of 2023. This included “dozens” of swastikas that they had to clean off buildings, according to the NY Post.
In related news, last week, Columbia agreed to pay $200 million to President Donald Trump’s administration as part of a settlement over alleged violations of anti-discrimination laws.
The Trump administration agreed to reinstate the Ivy League school’s federal grants in response to the agreement, The College Fix reported.
As part of the settlement, it also will give the Trump administration all records of “disciplinary actions” involving international students.
University President Claire Shipman stated in an announcement last week that the university could not continue to “jeopardize [its] status as a world-leading research institution” while the Trump administration withheld $400 million in grants and $1.3 billion a year in funding.
Shipman stated that Columbia “has not admitted wrongdoing and does not agree with the government’s conclusion that it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.”
MORE: Columbia to pay Trump admin $200M to restore funding yanked over antisemitism
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Pro-Palestinian protesters take over a building on the campus of Columbia University; Palestine SWG/Instagram
