Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Denouncing Acts of Violence At Columbia University And Antisemitism At College Campus Protests

Washington, D.C. - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the acts of violence and dangerous antisemitism taking place at protests on college campuses. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

I would like to begin today by saying a few things about the protests at Columbia University.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech - it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist.

Free speech, discussion, and even strong disagreement are fundamental American values, and campuses should be places where those values are cherished.

Campuses cannot be places of learning and argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality, and those who commit such acts are doing nothing to convince others that their cause is just.

It is also unacceptable when Jewish students are targeted for being Jewish - when protests exhibit verbal abuse, systemic intimidation, or glorification of the murderous and hateful Hamas or the violence of October 7^th.

As I said in my speech here on the floor last November and many times since: that is antisemitism. It is loathsome. It is unacceptable.

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