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Republicans are calling for harsh measures to be taken against the anti-Israel rioters who stormed a Columbia University library — as the White House praised the Ivy League school for swiftly calling in cops to disperse the mob.
“We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on social media Wednesday night.
“Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”
House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik said on Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus” Thursday that universities like Columbia which foment a climate of antisemitism should have their taxpayer funding revoked.
“These schools are not entitled to taxpayer dollars, and they’re not meeting their federal requirement to protect the civil rights of all students on campus,” she said, calling the riots “absolutely disgraceful.”
In March, Columbia vowed to comply with a list of demands handed down by the Trump administration aimed at curbing campus antisemitism, including banning the wearing of masks by protesters who were engaged in violating school rules.
At stake is around $400 million in federal funding, which the administration vowed to rescind if the Ivy League school didn’t take immediate meaningful action.
The elite Upper West Side university also empowered 36 members of its campus security to arrest rule-violating protesters.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the library takeover the latest example of “Jew hatred” taking root on Columbia’s campus, but praised the school administration for its actions.
“Columbia’s leadership responded with resolve and we commend the administration for a swift response that restored order and clarified that antisemitic mobs will no longer be tolerated. It will be important to see what action is taken against those arrested.”
In a statement, the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, which has spearheaded the pressure campaign aimed at getting Columbia to clean up its act, denounced the rioters but praised the university — including newly anointed acting President Claire Shipman — for issuing a “strong and resolute” statement in the wake of the violence.
“We concur with acting president Shipman that what happened was utterly unacceptable, which is precisely why the American people are demanding that the administration act and implement meaningful and enforceable commitments to enforce civil rights laws with institutions that receive taxpayer dollars,” the task force, made up of federal agencies including the General Services Administration, Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, said in a statement.
“The Task Force is confident that Columbia will take the appropriate disciplinary actions for those involved in this act.”
About 80 masked radicals were arrested by NYPD after violently barging into Columbia’s Butler Library as students prepared for final exams, injuring two campus security officers. Among those arrested were 61 women and 19 men, sources confirmed to The Post.
Columbia did not respond to The Post’s request for comment Thursday about what if any punishments will be meted out for the masked rioters, or whether campus security was involved in the arrests.
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