Columbia Janitors Held Hostage by Anti-Israel Mob Settle With School for Undisclosed Amount
“filed complaints against the school over their chilling experiences of being trapped by an anti-Israel mob and forced to scrub swastikas”
In the spring of 2024, a mob of anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University took over a building. One of the underreported aspects of the story is that when the mob invaded the building and barricaded the door, there were two custodians trapped in the building with them.
The two men sued the school and have now settled for an undisclosed amount.
The New York Post reports:
Columbia janitors forced to scrub swastikas after brutal assault by anti-Israel mob settle with school for undisclosed amount
Two Columbia University custodians, who filed complaints against the school over their chilling experiences of being trapped by an anti-Israel mob and forced to scrub swastikas, have decided to settle with the Ivy League institution, The Post has learned.
Lester Wilson and Mario Torres, whose complaints sparked a civil rights probe, have opted to take advantage of Columbia’s recently announced $220 million settlement for civil rights violations and racially discriminatory practices.
The settlement is for an undisclosed amount of money.
While that wraps up Wilson’s and Torres’ battle against Columbia, the two men are still forging ahead with their lawsuit against more than 40 protesters whom they allege held them hostage during the Hamilton Hall riot last year.
Columbia had inked the $220 million deal with the Trump administration to restore the bulk of federal funding to the elite institution.
FOX News has more about what these men were forced to endure:
The pair, who have reportedly worked at the university for five years, claim they were assaulted as protesters stormed the campus building April 29, 2024. The protesters allegedly “terrorized the two men into the early morning of April 30th, assaulted and battered them, held them against their will,” the lawsuit states.
When the janitors attempted to “defend” Hamilton Hall from the individuals, they were called “Jew-lovers,” “Jew-worker” and “Zionist.” At the time, the protesters renamed the building “Hinds Hall.”
Prior to taking over Hamilton Hall, the protesters allegedly agreed they would “intimidate, harass, bribe, threaten, and/or assault and batter such employees” who posed a threat to their plan, the lawsuit said.
At one point, Torres reportedly used a fire extinguisher to defend himself and was hit on the back by protesters while Wilson was shoved and had furniture pushed into him.
“‘I’m going to get twenty guys up here to f— you up’,” one masked rioter who shoved Torres threatened, according to the complaint.
What they were put through is shameful.
I assume that these two gentlemen will never need to work as janitors again, and good for them.
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Comments
OK, the janitors got money from Columbia. However, Columbia just got various of their personal body parts handed to them by the Federales for discrimination. Going before a New York City civil [which is not as restricted as a criminal jury] jury for damages is a lot less likely to succeed as “anti-Israel mobs” are considered to be “mostly peaceful” paragons of virtue. Mind you, I appreciate them trying to put a cost on such conduct, but it is probably more an act of civic virtue than realistically expecting justice for a tort.
Subotai Bahadur
After reading the bizarre details of what happened, it sounds more like it was a school located in Columbia, rather than an American school named Columbia.
If you are referring to the South American country, it’s spelled Colombia.
I remember watching the video of a long interview with these two janitors. There’s more to the story. They said monitors or alarms were disabled which were located high enough to require access by ladder. Obviously the rioters had access suggesting someone at Columbia helped the rioters prepare. If they have a lawsuit against the rioters then why have those people not been criminally prosecuted? Or have they? Surely holding people against their will is some kind of criminal act.
lefty wins again
this is all about keeping doj away from them
5 years no federal money and 3 years in jail min for ALL U admin that were involved in allowing any students..employees etc to face the wrath of the blmplo armies
Two freaking janitors are fighting to hold to account 40 thugs whom Columbia couldn’t be bothered to hold to account.
The janitors are just trying to do their job – cleaning things up.
Hostages? If they couldn’t leave then it is kidnapping. This should be prosecuted as a kidnapping which is a felony. The settlement is one thing but the kidnapping should be out of the schools hands in into the AG’s hands.
Vile Dhimmi-crats/Islamofascists brazenly assaulting, insulting and threatening hard-working janitors “of color,” the same way that these pukes assaulted and insulted black LEO’s (and, other LEO’s), during the 2020 Dhimmi-crat insurrection.
I’m not following. Did you mean 2016?
No; I’m referring to the 2020 riots, looting, arson, murders, assaults and desecration of synagogues undertaken by Dhimmi-crat terrorist-thugs, to commemorate the self-inflicted demise of drug-addled, career criminal, St. George Floyd.
Perhaps you’ve seen footage of privileged white youth and older members of the Dhimmi-crats’ “activist” cadre, insulting, taunting and demeaning black LEO’s, a few feet away from them. The same brazen racism and disrespect from people who claim to advocate for people “of color.”
Columbia isn’t having a good year, which doesn’t bother me a bit. After all of the stupid $h!t they have pulled for the past 75 years, the billions of chickens have certainly come home to roost and decided to crap right on the heads of the Marxist administration, faculty Soviet, and the idiot radicals in the student body. Play stupid games…lose big money…