Some Schools Bite Back

AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah Student protesters gather in protest inside their encampment on the Columbia University campus, Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York. Protesters of the war in Gaza who are encamped at Columbia University have defied a deadline to disband with chants, clapping and drumming.

Campus protests began at Columbia, where students made a tent city of the central lawn and broke into and occupied a building, and spread from sea to shining sea.

Administrators responded differently: The University of Florida, run by former senator Ben Sasse, gave students stern warnings and then removed them, saying the school was not a day-care center.

Fecklessness at other institutions led to police sweeps (Columbia, NYU) and even a protest-on-protest riot (UCLA, where Hamas supporters made the mistake of beating up a member of the local Persian Jewish community).

The demonstrations are radical, Islamist, antisemitic, and a magnet for demented weirdos. Media have been notably incurious about who was helping organize so many so quickly (all those Coleman tents).

Fortunately for President Biden’s presidential campaign, the venue for the Democratic National Convention (Chicago) lacks any notable historical association with out-of-hand protests.