NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Laura Sparks, the president of Cooper Union College, has been facing calls for her termination after a group of Jewish students were cornered by Pro-Palestine protesters on the college campus.
They were forced to hide in a locked library, while the protesting mob chanted "free Palestine” as they banged on the library doors.
Attorney Gerard Filitti, the representative for the group of Jewish students, called out Sparks on Thursday, October 26, saying “She failed in her duty.”
“They do not feel safe coming back to campus. They are not here today. They are afraid to be here today because of what happened yesterday,” he stated at a press conference on the East 7th Street campus.
Cooper Union College could face lawsuit by Jewish students
In addition, Filitti threatened to sue the school and declared that he would pursue criminal charges against the protestors.
He demanded an investigation into the NYPD's alleged tardiness in responding to the students' repeated 911 calls, leaving them imprisoned in the room for at least forty minutes.
“We don’t want a replay of Columbine. We want police officers, in uniform, to help these people," the attorney said.
However, Chief of Patrol John Chell of the NYPD refuted his claims, stating that cops were present "from start to finish" and that the pro-Palestine group had only been pounding on the library windows for around ten minutes.
Why were Jewish students locked inside library?
The protestors, who were carrying Palestinian flags and “Zionism Hands Off Our Universities” signs, had planned to gather outside the 7 East 7th St. building at 1 pm when they barged past a security guard.
It seemed like they were going to Spark’s to demand she condemn Israel’s attacks on Gaza Strip civilians when they pivoted to the library.
When security officials heard the group approaching the library’s 7th level, they closed the doors and locked the Jewish students inside. However, they failed to stop them from banging on the walls and continuing their chanting.
The terrified Jewish students then huddled inside the Cooper Union Library and called 911 or contacted relatives who called the police for help.
It's unclear if any police officers entered the building during the protest, but the student witness insists that cops never arrived since they were warned not to get involved by the institution, according to the NY Post.
Instead, a school administrator offered to discreetly escort the students out the back entrance of the building — which is what Sparks allegedly did herself upon hearing that the protesters were coming her way.
The university’s media relations manager noted that as the demonstration proceeded through the building, the library was shuttered for around twenty minutes.
Jewish students felt 'unsafe and unprotected'
Several Jewish students have come forward to describe the moment of fear when they were locked inside the East Village university library as pro-Palestinian protesters pounded on doors and windows.
“I can say that I felt unsafe and unprotected. I would like the university to admit what went on and not avoid the topic. I was shocked that I was experiencing this at my private university — in America — in 2023,” Cooper Union sophomore Taylor Roslyn Lent, told NY Post.
A Cooper Union senior who wished to remain anonymous claimed that the protesters were hurling "antisemitic rhetoric” as they pounded on a large library window.
“When they started banging on the door, my heart started pounding,” the student told the outlet, adding. “I was crying. I think if the doors weren’t locked — I don’t know what would have happened.”
Solomon Rosenzweig, an alumnus of Cooper Union, said his 22-year-old daughter — a senior at the university whom he requested not be identified due to safety fears — has been “upset and shaken” after witnessing the harrowing incident on Wednesday, October 25.
“I’ve gone and donated money back to the school because I appreciated the education and I thought that my daughter was going to wind up with the same. Only instead, the school allowed my daughter to be at risk,” he said.
“I know she has a midterm she’s been trying to work on. And her ability to process has been severely degraded.”
