The daughter of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (R-Minn.) complained in an interview with Teen Vogue that she has been left hungry and homeless after getting suspended from Barnard College following her arrest at an anti-Israel demonstration at Columbia University last week.
Isra Hirsi, 21, and several other Barnard students were among 114 demonstrators who were cuffed and hauled to jail Thursday after refusing to leave a tent encampment on the school’s campus, the New York Post reported.
Rep. Ilhan Omar says she’s ‘enormously proud’ of Isra Hirsi in first remarks since daughter’s arrest at Columbia anti-Israel protest https://t.co/ArOYFbbt1p pic.twitter.com/e2LinYRHFn
— New York Post (@nypost) April 20, 2024
The agitators, some of whom had to be carried away, were moved onto waiting NYPD corrections buses, according to the Post, and then an angry mob “swarmed to the police vehicles to temporarily block them from leaving the scene.”
They chanted “Shame, shame, shame!” and “Let them go!”
The NYPD said at a press conference Thursday night that some of the agitators also taunted the police, telling officers to kill themselves and accusing them of being in the KKK.
One Police Plaza NYC .
NYC Mayor and NYPD executives brief the press on the protests that took place at the @Columbia campus in NYC. Around 108, arrests were made for trespassing and 2 for OGA. @NYPDChiefPatrol John Chell states that around 500 students surrounded his cops… pic.twitter.com/5Uh0WU2Tft— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) April 18, 2024
The arrestees, many of whom came from wealthy, elite families, were all charged with trespassing, and two were given obstruction of governmental administration summonses.
Hirsi was reportedly kicked out of her “prestigious $90,000-per-year” dorm and banned from using the dining hall following her arrest.
“I was a little bit frantic, like, where am I going to sleep? Where am I gonna go?” she fretted to Teen Vogue after learning she’d been evicted from campus housing.
“And also all of my sh-t is thrown in a random lot. It’s pretty horrible,” Hirsi lamented. After the arrest, Ilhan Omar, a member of the far-left “squad,” said she was “enormously proud” of her daughter, who is a member of the anti-Israel student group Apartheid Divest.
“I have like four shirts, two pairs of pants,” Hirsi told Teen Vogue. “I don’t know when I can go home, and I don’t know if I ever will be able to.”
Barnard administrators had warned their students late Wednesday that they would be suspended if they refused to clear out.
Hirsi received notice of her suspension early Thursday, according to the Post, “hours before the NYPD was called in to arrest protestors and help dismantle the anti-Israel protest encampment.”
Hirsi complained that Barnard administrators were less than accommodating after she was sprung from jail.
“I sent them an email like, ‘Hey, I rely on campus for my meals, I rely on my dining plan,’ and they were like, Oh, you can come pick up a prepackaged bag of food, a full 48 hours after I was suspended,” she told the magazine. “There was no food support, no nothing.”
Hirsi went on to describe her harrowing eight hour incarceration.
“We had so many people who were born female in our group that they didn’t have enough space for us,” she said of her incarceration. “It was a very slow process in getting everybody into the cells.
“I was zip-tied for about seven hours and wasn’t released for about eight,” she added.
In a separate interview, she complained that Barnard’s president, Laura Rosenbury, had taken a tougher stance on students than Columbia University.
Only Barnard students are evicted, and I think it’s pretty crazy,” Hirsi griped.
“I think it’s really on a school-by-school basis, and Barnard has decided to take a very egregious stand against us,” she said.
NEW: Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, says she’s homeless, cries poverty after suspension from $90K-per-year college over anti-Israel protest.
The privileged daughter of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, 21 year-old Isra Hirsi, along with a few other Barnard students, received… pic.twitter.com/gDQRaLV2Q5
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) April 22, 2024
Students at Columbia University moved to virtual learning Monday, with scores of defiant anti-Israel agitators still camped out on the university’s lawn.
Embattled Columbia President Minouche Shafik said in a statement the decision was made to “deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps.”
According to CNN, “more than a dozen tents were pitched and tables were stocked with supplies of clothes and food” on the school’s West Lawn, “opposite the lawn where the original encampment took place.”
Signs around the encampment include ones reading, “End the siege on Gaza now” and “Welcome to the People’s University of Palestine.”
A rabbi linked to the university reportedly urged Jewish students to stay home due to safety concerns as Passover is set to begin Monday evening.
Sunday night, the anti-Israel occupiers formed a “human chain” to prevent “Zionists” from entering the encampment.
This exercise, last night at Columbia, captures the essence of the “protest,” namely, to establish progressives as the gatekeepers of our culture. They alone decide what is legitimate in the public square. This thuggery has no place at a college dedicated to its true mission. pic.twitter.com/lLeciDiuJu
— Mike (@Doranimated) April 22, 2024
Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said it may be time to deploy the National Guard to American universities to keep Jewish students safe.
“Eisenhower sent the 101st to Little Rock,” Hawley wrote on X. “It’s time for Biden to call out the National Guard at our universities to protect Jewish Americans.”
Former President Donald Trump commented on the situation in a statement posted on Truth Social, Monday.
“The Palestinian Protests at Columbia University have CLOSED THE COLLEGE DOWN,” Trump said. “But the area surrounding the Courthouse, in Downtown Manhattan, is closed up like a drum, with New York City’s Finest (Police) all over the place. Why not send some to Columbia to protect Jewish Students, and others. The University would then not have to Shut Down. Republicans want the right to protest in front of the Courthouse, like everyone else!”
My gosh. Such a terrible, life altering experience. Think about it, she only had 2 shirts and 2 pairs of pants, and didn’t know if she would “ever” be able to go home. That really puts the complaining about Oct 7th to shame (sarcasm of course).