CONTACT: Mariah McGough, mariah@vocal-ny.org 

VOCAL-NY CONDEMNS STATE-SANCTIONED VIOLENCE AGAINST NY STUDENTS

VOCAL-NY Reiterates Demand for Ceasefire; Calls for Students to be Protected – Not Criminalized

NEW YORK — In response to the NYPD arresting and clearing student-led demonstrations across New York City, VOCAL-NY released the following statement, attributable to Hassen Bashir, Civil Rights Union Campaign Coordinator for VOCAL-NY:

“The recent attacks by the NYPD on college students expressing their First Amendment rights is unconscionable. Hundreds of NYPD and SRG officers stormed peaceful protestors who were doing nothing more than calling for a ceasefire and an end to the countless civilian deaths in Palestine. We saw the NYPD utilize military vehicles, weapons, and tactics to beat and arrest hundreds of the youngest and brightest minds in this city. We saw college administrators intentionally weaponize the NYPD against their own students (and at times their own faculty), rather than adhering to their demands for peace. 

Mayor Adams’ misinformation campaign calling our city’s college students ‘outside agitators’ is dangerous rhetoric, puts students’ lives at risk, and gives the NYPD carte blanche to use violence to quell peaceful demonstrations. College students in NYC are part of a national movement of thousands of students, and this authoritarianism from so-called Democratic leadership will only alienate young voters.

When students organize at a national scale, they are rarely on the wrong side of history. The NYPD, Mayor Adams, and spiteful college administrators are on the wrong side of history. We reiterate our demands for a ceasefire in Gaza and stand with these students in calling for end to the ongoing Palestinian genocide.”

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