Once Columbia University’s administrators called the cops in on students protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the Fox News crowd started foaming at the mouth for teens to be beaten or killed, you knew it was only a matter of time before someone ended up in the hospital. Sadly, it appears that is now the case, as someone reportedly drove their car into a crowd of protesters. The person the driver hit later went to the hospital in an ambulance.
Per reports from Talia Jane, who is Jewish, during a protest outside the house of a Columbia trustee, Reuven Kahane, a local real estate developer, initially drove up to a group of protesters and asked for a flyer. When someone offered one to him, he instead grabbed their arm and drove off. Next Kahane drove his Volvo around the block, sometimes swerving toward the sidewalk, and then directed his car at the protesters themselves.
A de-escalator at the back of the march attempted to get Kahane to wait, but he hit her with his car anyway. A second de-escalator then sat in front of his car to prevent him from driving into the crowd, but was later arrested. The first de-escalator called an ambulance for an injury to her leg. Kahane was also arrested, and the injured de-escalator was detained at the hospital.
Independent journalist Marisa Kabas has since confirmed that Reuven Kahane was arrested by the NYPD. He is currently charged with second-degree assault, a felony. Kabas also confirmed the de-escalator he hit was a 55-year-old woman who is currently charged with criminal mischief and unlawful assembly, while the de-escalator who sat in front of Kahane’s car has been charged with criminal mischief. The safety/de-escalation team was reportedly made up entirely of non-student volunteers.
Jane also claims to have seen video of the commanding officer calling the student protesters “fucking morons” and saying, “there’s consequences as an adult,” as if it’s somehow their fault that someone tried to drive a car into their march. For the record: If you use your car to intentionally hurt people, you are a bad person. No amount of annoyance or personal inconvenience justifies using a deadly weapon to attack a group of protesters, cyclists or anyone else you don’t like.
(This is a breaking story, and we will update as more details emerge.)