Campus encampments and body cam footage released

A lot of news and a reminder to the people in charge to not yank our chain when it comes to information #80

A lot happened this week on college campuses and elsewhere in the city.

Let’s start on Tuesday, when Mayor Eric Adams joined Police Commissioner Edward Caban and other NYPD officials to update the public and the press on protest encampments, primarily at Columbia University. They had evidence of outside agitators, they said, and would work with universities on next steps. 

“I have been saying for days, if not weeks now, that what should have been a peaceful protest, it has basically been co-opted by professionals outside agitators,” the mayor said. “We were extremely cautious about releasing our intel information because our goal was to ensure the safety of our students, the faculty, and without any destruction of property.”

The NYPD then showed a video to prove their intel on the agitators. I watched the stream from City Hall and waited for the information as I watched videos of people dressed in black, and barricaded doors.

What we know now is that out of the hundreds of people arrested later that night at Columbia University, 30% were “unaffiliated” with the school. At City College, 60% of those arrested were not affiliated with the school.

But whether this was a college movement “co-opted” by outsiders or simply attended by them is still unclear. The mayor and NYPD officials seem to not believe colleges and college students could come up with this type of protest and action on their own, including barricading doors (as if students haven’t been participating in school shooter lockdown drills for decades.)

At a press conference Wednesday morning at 1 Police Plaza Commissioner Caban dramatically dropped a Kryptonite bike chain on the desk after the head of the police department’s press office brought in a similar one earlier that day on Morning Joe. How would students know about these chains? Look at this chain!

I was there for the presser scrolling social media when I saw a post sharing an old Columbia public safety deal selling that same exact bike chain, used by many bike riders, at a discount for students. When I was called on – only following a second NYPD video, ending with top NYPD officials raising an American flag at CCNY and interestingly not any video of the weapon that was discharged by an officer – I asked about the protestors, the outside agitator claim, why the police couldn’t give us more if they were so certain of it. “Can you offer us any more insight into it beyond just a lock that they sold to students?” They didn’t offer much of an explanation but I was later invited by the police commissioner to hold the chain. 

I can confirm: it’s a bike chain. I showed the photo of the same bike chain advertised as for sale at Columbia to the DCPI.  (You can see this whole exchange here, not to be self indulgent.) 

Maybe all this chatter over a bike lock sounds silly, but to me it’s a distressing shift in relationships between official institutions and the media that covers them, as well as the public. The NYPD says it themselves — they are presenting their own narrative. (Even though they don’t even understand the idea of academic textbooks.)

The NYPD and the Adams administration continues to move further and further away from transparency. Reporters were barred from entering Columbia as police entered, yet the NYPD’s media team was there. The dean of Columbia’s journalism school said today it was cleared for their own filming purposes. The NYPD released a more than 4 minute film aimed at making their officers — but mainly their top officials — looked good, complete with dramatic music and interviews.

And after THE CITY reported a gun was accidentally discharged at Hamilton Hall, officials said today they were in “no rush” to release that information. What we’re seeing is propaganda; it’s the exact definition of the word. With more and more police radio transmissions now encrypted, we can expect to see even fewer independent reporting on police activity. If that doesn’t scare you, it should.

I don’t know what else we can do except continuing to report, continuing to remain skeptical of official accounts, continuing to talk to as many people as possible, and continuing to look for the truth no matter what.

Here’s a rundown of THE CITY’s coverage: 

NYPD Breaks Up Campus Encampments at City College and Columbia, Arresting Student Protesters [THE CITY]

As Campus Protesters Blast ‘Brutal and Spineless Tactics,’ City Hall Touts ‘Precision Policing’ [THE CITY]

CUNY Faculty Stage Illegal May Day Strike As Criticism Mounts Over Campus Protest Response [THE CITY]

NYPD Officer Fired Gun Inside Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, Manhattan DA’s Office Confirms [THE CITY]

Also, on Friday the attorney general’s office released the body cam footage from the officers involved in the killing of Win Rozario in Queens in March. It comes a day after my colleagues wrote about the Rozario family’s push for the video, which lagged despite the NYPD showing they can film and edit and release  video very quickly. We link to the videos but I’ll warn you it’s very disturbing. [THE CITY]

🎧LISTEN🎧

We spoke with Jeff Mays of the NYT on FAQ this week about the Adams administration’s recent departures [FAQ}

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And here are two non-news stories, one funny and one sad.

🍨 This made me want to read Streisand’s memoir. And have an egg cream. [VULTURE]

”I’m talking loud now, so she can hear me over the roar of waves and wind. I tell her I will listen in case she wants to send me a message. I remind myself to pay attention. A message can be a bird or a breeze or a shell. A message can be anything.” [NYT]

thanks for reading!