The US government has begun a civil rights investigation into the incident at Columbia University last year in which a group of janitors were trapped and held against their will when anti-Israel protestors took over the Hamilton Hall building on campus, the New York Post reported.
The investigation was launched by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the organization that enforces civil rights laws in the workplace, in response to complaints filed by Lester Wilson and Mario Torres, two university employees who were trapped in the building by the protestors.
Former US Attorney General Bill Barr, who founded the Torridon firm that is representing the plaintiffs, told the Post, “We welcome the EEOC’s decision to open an investigation into Mario’s and Lester’s charges of discrimination. Columbia has a legal and moral obligation to protect the civil rights of its students and employees. It must be held accountable when it fails to do so.”
The complaint states, “Hours after [Columbia University] President Shafik issued her statement, an antisemitic mob assaulted two janitors inside Columbia’s historic Hamilton Hall, calling them ‘Jew-lovers.'"
It continues, “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."
The incident took place in April 2024, when anti-Israel protesters took over Columbia University's Hamilton Hall and draped a large banner with the word 'intifada' from a window.
The takeover of the hall came after the protesters ignored a deadline set by the university administration to remove the tent encampment set up on campus two weeks earlier. The administration had given the protesters until 2 p.m. the day before the building takeover and warned that students who failed to do so would be suspended. The protesters ignored the warning and broke into the hall in the early morning hours the following day.
The hall was reclaimed from the protesters after significant police forces entered the university campus.
Last week, Columbia University on Thursday announced disciplinary measures against students involved in the takeover of Hamilton Hall.
The university stated that punishments include "multiyear suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsion", according to The New York Times.
A university spokeswoman, citing federal privacy laws, declined to disclose the names of those disciplined. It remains unclear how many students have been affected.
Columbia University faces intense scrutiny after the Trump administration withdrew $400 million in federal grants and contracts due to its "inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."