One of the Columbia University students who bravely tried to stop a horde of anti-Israel protesters from taking over an academic building last night tells Fox News Digital that he tried to hold off the agitators long enough for police or security forces to arrive on the scene and they could back them up – but in the end none of them showed up.
Rory Wilson, a 22-year-old history student, said he was angry that the takeover took place under the watch of university police and that the NYPD never arrived even though students said they called 911.
Wilson had been sleeping in his dorm after midnight when his friends woke him and told them that protesters were seeking a takeover of Hamilton Hall, an academic building used by the dean and other senior offices.
COLUMBIA STUDENTS WITNESSING ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTER TAKEOVER OF A BUILDING SAY: ‘WE FEEL ALONE’
Desperate to protect the building from an illegal break-in, Wilson said he and his friends got to the building’s entrance through gaps in the human chains that protesters had formed that night. The chains broke as agitators tried to drag a black metal table to the building’s entrance and tie it to the door, Wilson said.
Wilson and his friend Charles Beck then stood outside the doors as the mob advanced furiously against them, chaotic video from the crime scene shows.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
“It was about standing up for what I believe is right, even if we ultimately couldn’t stop the mob,” said Wilson, a devout Christian who is Jewish and has Israeli relatives.
“You acted illegally and – regardless of what you think about the situation in Israel – we know that this was wrong and inappropriate.”
“Damage to university property, disruption of school activities, injury to the university whose administration had gone to great lengths to negotiate with them. I told people that this was my protest against your protest, that they were completely wrong and that I was free to do this. “I stand as a student on my own campus.”
While Wilson stood his ground, his friend Beck was dragged away by the angry crowd.
A man dressed all in black then tried to throw Wilson to the ground, says Wilson, who wasn’t sure whether the man was part of the college or not.
Wilson said the man had been guarding the encampment on the lawn earlier in the day and called him a “Zionist” as he passed by, while also spewing hateful rhetoric in Arabic, which a friend of Wilson’s later translated as “inbreeding.”
“He definitely seemed dangerous and physically intimidated me and grabbed my leg,” Wilson said of the nighttime showdown outside Hamilton Hall. Agitators later renamed the building “Hind’s Hall” by placing a banner over the facility. Hind Rajab was a 6-year-old who died in Gaza during Israel’s war with Hamas, according to a statement apparently from the group published on X.
“I held on because a few people signaled to me that the police might come, so I thought I could just hold on and put up a big barricade to stop the building from being damaged, but then they never came,” said Wilson.
As the mob surrounded him at the door, Wison said another friend told him to leave before things got even more out of hand.
Spoiled children have taken over the colleges we pay for
“I didn’t want to risk it because a masked mob – when they’re already breaking things, committing vandalism, everything is blown up – you don’t know how violent it can get, so I left.”
Wilson, acting as the last line of defense, then stepped aside before the crowd smashed the door windows and began occupying the building. It’s still occupied as of this afternoon.
“There was no sign of security forces. Immediately after leaving, my friends called 911 and I called campus public safety and told them there had been cases of assault because they had physically attacked us… but as far as I could tell, there had been no reaction. all night,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the campus felt dangerous after the break-in and he suspected people dressed in black followed him back to his dorm. Other people dressed in black, Wilson said, were climbing into buildings through windows and he wasn’t sure whether they were students or outside agitators.
An alleged professional agitator in her 60s was captured on video leading the push to take over Hamilton Hall and Wilson said she denigrated him.
“She harassed me all the time,” Wilson said. She attacked me and said, “Do you think you are white saviors?” Check your privilege as a white man. Who do you Think You Are? That’s no use.’”
“So she was just messing with us the whole time and attacking us because of our race and gender.”
Wilson wants the university to stop talking and take action against the violent agitators.
“I am very disappointed in the university for sending out an email this morning talking about how much they care about the safety of all students, but when push comes to shove, when it’s a really dangerous one “There’s a situation, they don’t do anything,” Wilson said, ranting.
“And I think that reassurance rings very hollow if they’re not willing to actually show up and deal with situations where they’re really bad. When people exercise their legitimate right as students of this university to reside peacefully in public areas of the university, they are physically attacked and they do nothing.
“This really disappoints me in this university and I find it shameful.”
Original source of the article: Columbia students tried to delay mob takeover of Hamilton Hall, but say ‘police never came’