Jewish Columbia student: It's a 'madhouse on campus'
Xavier Westergaard tells 'The Story' the campus has devolved into anarchy, security guards not allowed to do their jobs.
Former CNN host Campbell Brown declared Sunday she is heading to Israel with her sons, arguing that the embattled country is currently more welcoming to her Jewish family than New York City, where antisemitic protests have roiled Columbia University.
Just before Passover began, the former news anchor and ex-Meta executive wrote on social media, "I’m on my way to Israel where my two sons will be safer and feel more welcomed than they would be today on the Upper West Side. #AmYisraelChai [The people of Israel live]."
Brown’s husband, former Bush administration foreign policy adviser and author Dan Senor, responded with a series of emojis in support of her statement.
Former news host and Meta executive Campbell Brown has been outspoken about the protests taking place in Manhattan, New York. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for MPA – The Association of Magazine Media)
New York City has been a hotbed of massive anti-Israel protests since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. Columbia University, in particular, one of America’s most prestigious universities, has been shaken by such demonstrations in the past several days.
Anti-Israel activists there have taken over the main lawn of the New York City campus since last week, with authorities arresting more than 100 of the agitators on Thursday, including Rep. Ilhan Omar's, D-Minn., daughter.
However, the chaotic encampment continued over the weekend, riling students and faculty with anti-Jewish slogans and chants, including statements of support for Hamas. The school’s president shifted all classes to virtual learning on Monday amid safety concerns.
Anti-Israel agitators construct an encampment on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Monday, April 22, 2024. The university announced that all classes would be held virtually today in response to the ongoing demonstrations on campus. (Peter Gerber)
Both the former news host and her husband have shared multiple videos purportedly showing the dangerous chaos at Columbia as the protests continue.
Brown highlighted a letter from Rabbi Elie Buechler, director of Columbia and Barnard College’s Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, who warned Jewish students, "Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy," telling them to "return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved."
She responded to the situation by declaring, "This is outrageous."
Minutes before her message about bringing her sons to safety in Israel, Brown shared a post from The Israel Files, which said, "Columbia University, the City and State of New York, and the White House are standing on the sidelines agitators at Columbia call for mass murder, openly and explicitly chant their love and support for Hamas (a U.S.-designated terrorist organization) and shout: ‘burn Tel Aviv to the ground.’"
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A source clarified to The Daily Beast that Brown is not moving her family to Israel, but they are traveling there to celebrate Passover.
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
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