A new federal investigation has been opened into embattled Columbia University after two members of the Ivy League school’s maintenance staff said they were forced to fight their way out of a building they were trapped in by pro-Hamas activists last year. the on campus protest in the quad lasted for nearly two weeks. NYPD were eventually called in to clear the occupation of Hamilton Hall, where the workers say they were trapped.
According to The New York Post, Lester Wilson and Mario Torres allege they had been forced to scrub off swastikas on campus, and were also attacked and briefly trapped by the antisemitic “mob” during the takeover of Hamilton Hall last spring. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal agency tasked with enforcing civil rights laws in the workplace, is investigating the allegations.
The two janitors are represented by former US Attorney General Bill Barr and his firm Torridon, and are filing claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging that they were retaliated against for “reporting antisemitic and racist conduct.” According to documents obtained by the outlet, Wilson and Torres were both injured and traumatized by the “mob” that took over the university and haven’t been able to return to work.
The complaint read, “Hours after President [Minouche] Shafik issued her statement [that the university had become ‘unsafe for everyone‘], an antisemitic mob assaulted two janitors inside Columbia’s historic Hamilton Hall, calling them ‘Jew-lovers,’” referring to the occupation of Hamilton Hall last April. Columbia had indeed become unsafe for everyone, including the two janitors who were trapped inside Hamilton Hall. And for these two men, Columbia had for months been a hostile environment in violation of Title VII.”
In November 2023, following the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, racist and antisemitic graffiti began to appear on campus. According to the complaint, “Mr. Wilson recognized the swastikas as symbols of white supremacy. As an African-American man, he found the images deeply distressing. He reported them to his supervisors, who instructed him to erase the graffiti. No matter how many times Mr. Wilson removed the swastikas, individuals kept replacing them with more.” […]
— Read More: thepostmillennial.com
