New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday defended the police crackdown on campus protests there, which have become the epicenter of demonstrations around the country against the Israel-Hamas war.
“We want to ensure we protect democracy and the right to protest,” Adams told ABC News “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl, “but we have an obligation that when those protests reach the point of violence … we have to ensure that we use a minimum amount of force to terminate what is perceived to be a threat not only by our intelligence, but also the school and college officials.”
Adams said that the large-scale police intervention seen so far in the city, most notably at Columbia University, resulted from communication between the police and school officials.
“We knew we had to get permission unless there’s imminent threat to life, or severe threat to property,” he said, referring to Columbia, adding, “We were not going to overstep our legal authority.”
Pressed by Karl about criticism, including from some other Democrats, that the response to protesters was disproportionate and improper on school grounds, Adams said, “One has the right to have his or her opinion, and I respect that. … And I have an obligation and responsibility to ensure the city is safe.”
New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman wrote last week that “the militarization of college campuses, extensive police presence, and arrest of hundreds of students are in direct opposition to the role of education as a cornerstone of our democracy.”
