🚨NEW: A shocking report from the @nypost announces a new federal investigation into @Columbia after janitors trapped in the Hamilton Hall occupation reported retaliatory harassment for reporting antisemitic conduct. Let's break it down. 🧵 nypost.com/2025/03/17/us-…
Lester Wilson and Mario Torres, two janitors who work @Columbia, started noticing an increase in racist and antisemitic graffiti in Nov. 2023. “No matter how many times Mr. Wilson removed the swastikas, individuals kept replacing them with more.”
Mr. Wilson lost track of how many swastikas he had to scrub, while Mr. Torres "pegged it in the dozens". Despite reporting it to his superiors, @Columbia did nothing, so Mr. Torres started throwing away chalk left in classrooms so the vandals wouldn't have anything to write with.
"...Torres and Wilson observed masked protesters storm through Hamilton Hall chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and scrawling swastikas as well as other obscene graffiti in the building." Despite security cameras and ID scanners, @Columbia did nothing. 
After Mr. Wilson accepted overtime to clean up the encampment in April, he "saw and heard members of the encampment shouting ‘Jew-lover’ and ‘Zionist’ at [a] colleague while he worked to clean up their mess." Mr. Torres also reported feeling unsafe around the encampment.
Both Mr. Torres and Mr. Wilson were working at Hamilton Hall the night it was occupied. “Masked intruders obstructed Mr. Torres’ path at every turn.” "After deciding he was out of options, Torres decided to battle his way through the mob."
Mr. Torres faced immense harassment inside Hamilton. He was told "I’m going to get twenty guys up here to f— you up," by a masked rioter who "violently" shoved him, as he was hit on the his back by other rioters. Mr. Torres had to use a fire extinguisher to defend himself.
Eventually, Mr. Torres managed to convince the rioters to let him out of the building, cutting zip ties that had been used to obstruct the doors. Meanwhile, Mr. Wilson had been separated from him. Rioters smashed furniture into him and "pushed him repeatedly".
Mr. Wilson said "I work here. Let me out."
“The rioters responded by laughing at him and mocking him. He remembers being told, ‘You work for the Jews,’ and ‘You’re a Zionist.’ Eventually, someone opened a door and Mr. Wilson was physically pushed out of the building.”
“The rioters responded by laughing at him and mocking him. He remembers being told, ‘You work for the Jews,’ and ‘You’re a Zionist.’ Eventually, someone opened a door and Mr. Wilson was physically pushed out of the building.”
The report describes disgusting behavior. Thankfully, many of the protestors responsible for taking over Hamilton were expelled last week – not for "free speech", but for taking over a building, causing property damage, and holding two janitors hostage.
Thank you Mr. Torres and Mr. Wilson for everything you've done at @Columbia! We apologize that your concerns were ignored and that you had to go through such a traumatic event. We'll be following the investigation as it proceeds.
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