NYC mayor hammers 'professional' Columbia anti-Israel agitators, says NYPD 'ready' to move in

New York City police officers in riot gear stand guard as demonstrators chant slogans outside the Columbia University campus on Thursday, April 18,, in New York. (AP/Mary Altaffer)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday warned that the New York City Police Department "cannot have a presence" at Columbia University’s campus "unless specifically requested by senior university officials," decrying "professional agitators" and "antisemitism being spewed" at the Ivy League School. 

"I am horrified and disgusted with the antisemitism being spewed at and around the Columbia University campus," Adams said, citing the example of a young woman holding a sign with an arrow pointing to Jewish students stating "Al-Qasam’s Next Targets." 

The Al-Qassam Brigade is the military wing of Hamas. 

The mayor noted another instance where a woman is literally yelling "We are Hamas," and another where groups of students are chanting "We don’t want no Zionists here."

"I condemn this hate speech in the strongest of terms. Supporting a terrorist organization that aims to kill Jews is sickening and despicable. As I have repeatedly said, hate has no place in our city, and I have instructed the NYPD to investigate any violation of law that is reported. Rest assured, the NYPD will not hesitate to arrest anyone who is found to be breaking the law," Adams continued. "We will not be a city of lawlessness, and those professional agitators seeking to seize the ongoing conflict in the Middle East to sow chaos and division in our city will not succeed."