(UnitedVoice.com) – A group of students staged a protest at Columbia University in New York City. The students were arrested the next day, including Minnesota’s Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter. Now, the congresswoman’s child is speaking out and claiming she was left homeless.
On April 17, 21-year-old Isra Hirsi, a student at Barnard College, went to Columbia University to set up an encampment to protest the Israeli war. The protest happened the same day the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Capitol Hill. The next day, Shafik authorized members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) to enter the campus and break up the encampment.
NYPD officers arrested Hirsi and many others and charged them with trespassing. The congresswoman’s daughter spoke to Teen Vogue’s Lex McMenamin approximately two days later. She claimed that shortly before police arrested her, she received an email from Barnard College informing her that she was suspended from her classes and the dorms.
The email sent to Hirsi stated she posed an “ongoing threat of disruption of, or interference with, the normal operation of the College.” She contends the protest she was arrested for wasn’t at Columbia. While that’s true, Barnard College is directly across from Columbia, and it’s a part of Columbia’s system. Students at Barnard often attend classes at the larger university too.
Hirsi claims she was locked out of her dorms, she repeatedly stated she was “evicted” but admitted there was no eviction notice or process. She also said that she was prohibited from accessing the dining halls. Though, after she emailed the school to inform them that she eats all her meals at the dining hall, administrators told her there would be a bag of food ready for her to pick up.
“I’m basically at least houseless” until a hearing is held for her, Hirsi claimed.
For her part, Rep. Omar, who has a history of antisemitism, said she was “enormously proud” of her daughter.
Copyright 2024, UnitedVoice.com
