‘Squad’ Democrats Blindsided By Class-Action Lawsuit

Nearly half of the infamous “Squad” members in Congress have been named in a lawsuit alleging they contributed to a climate of fear for Jewish New Yorkers who couldn’t walk the campus of Columbia University during the height of the pro-Palestinian encampments.

The New York Post reported on a class-action suit that accuses Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) of both “inciting and encouraging” long-term demonstrations that in some cases became violent, filled with antisemitic chants and physical confrontations with Jewish students simply crossing the demarcation lines of encampments on their college campuses. Plaintiffs, comprised of five anonymous students, are also suing at least a dozen groups they accuse of instigating the anti-Israel riots including the notoriously far-left group Within Our Lifetime. The five students labeled Omar, Bowman, and AOC “outside champions” for the ruckus that ensued, including violent encounters with police and campus officers.

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Responding to the takeover of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, AOC wrote on X, “If any kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall on the mayor and univ presidents,” calling it “a nightmare in the making.” The occupation of a central university building fixed public attention on the campus as masked protestors threw rocks, chanted “Free Palestine!” and burned an Israeli flag while barricading themselves inside. Citing the arrest of Rep. Omar’s daughter Isra Hirsi, the plaintiffs allege Squad members were intimately aware of the chaos ensuing and the jeopardy it posed to Jewish students who make up more than one in five among the university’s student body. The three Squad members also walked the grounds of the campus in April “and participated in the encampment,” the plaintiffs claim, adding to their culpability in what transpired.

“The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students,” the students said in the litigation. The encampment and their cheerleaders “not only consciously disregarded the rights of others, but the impact on the rights of others was the point of the protest: the more disruption [they] could cause for the University and the [students], the more leverage they thought they would have for their agenda,” according to the lawsuit. Two of the five students are Jewish, they explain, but all are afraid to reveal their names for fear of intimidation by their fellow students.

Describing the climate of fear they live under today, one student, identified as “Eric Doe,” said the fallout from the encampments “felt like he was living under an ominous cloud of doubt and uncertainty as he waited for the protestors or administration’s next move that would further impact his studies and life on campus.” Another, going by “William Doe,” said his senior year expo was canceled as a result of the demonstrations while a third known as “Michael Doe,” alleges he was told “Keep walking Zionist” by one of the protestors who followed him past Columbia’s encampment. “Tim Doe,” another Jewish student, “because he did not feel safe,” told the Post, “during the protests, I witnessed numerous offensive and antisemitic signs and messages, including antisemitic skunk posters with the Star of David.”

“In one instance, I was walking with my non-Jewish friends when I was singled out because I was wearing my yarmulke. A leader of the pro-Palestinian protest approached our group and confronted me. He singled me out, yelling that I needed to move, and when I refused, he began to shove me out of the way.” The students concluded, “In a civilized community, one does not call for the obliteration of a major metropolitan area, praise terrorists, or threaten death and destruction upon our classmates and their families, friends, and coreligionists.”

A May 15th graduation ceremony was canceled as a result of the protests out of fear that it would be disrupted, leaving seniors feeling unrecognized after four years of difficult academics at the Ivy League university. “Those were real damages sustained by the 36,000 students at Columbia who chose to obey university rules, go to class, and pursue their education, only to be frustrated at the finish line by the … acts of their classmates and professors, with the assistance and encouragement of outside activists,” the students argued.

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