Thread by @andrwwang

This happened yesterday at Barnard College. A black Columbia University student was entering the library when he was racially profiled by public safety officers. They took his ID. They pinned him down.

🎥: Caroline Cutlip

For context: Columbia students have access to Barnard libraries. After 11 p.m., students are supposed to show their IDs to public safety before entering campus. But this rule is loosely enforced and hardly followed. I have always just nodded to the officer. Nothing like this.

News coverage on the incident here:

bwog.com/2019/04/barnar…

“In an interview with Spectator, McNab said he was aware of the rule mandating students show their IDs, but expressed his frustration over what he cited as inconsistent enforcement of the rule, as he had noticed that white students were often not asked.”

columbiaspectator.com/news/2019/04/1…

“After McNab entered the gates, an officer followed him into the Milstein Center, continuing to request his ID, and when McNab declined, more officers were called to the scene, according to McNab’s account.”

UPDATE 1: A protest is happening now on Barnard’s campus. @bwog, Columbia student news, will be live-blogging the event here, at the bottom of the post. Follow them for more updates. bwog.com/2019/04/barnar…

UPDATE 2: According to the updated post on @bwog, the officers involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.
bwog.com/2019/04/barnar…

Photos of the protest. Taken from the @bwog liveblog.

“Besides looking out the window a couple of times, the Public Safety officer on duty has not acknowledged the protest happening outside his office.” Photo taken by @bwog at the end of the protest, which ended about an hour ago.

For those still following—the New York Times recently published a more comprehensive feature on what happened and what this means to students.
nytimes.com/2019/04/18/nyr…

Hear Alex’s story in his own words here. The full video from CNN can be accessed at this link. facebook.com/CNNReplay/vide…