Vandals targeted the home of Columbia University’s president, splashing the historic residence with red paint and scrawling the words “Free Them All,” as protests rage this week over ICE’s arrest of former protest ringleader Mahmoud Khalil, cops said.
The side of the building at 60 Morningside Drive appeared to have been pelted with red paint balloons — with the urgent message scrawled in black marker — when Columbia’s public safety officers spotted the damage around 12:50 a.m., police said.
Columbia’s current interim president, Katrina Armstrong, lives in the building, sources said.
The “CU Apartheid Divest” group posted a photo of the damage on X, with the caption, “Anonymous submission: the Columbia President’s mansion has been redecorated,” followed by three Palestinian flag emojis.
“The people will not stand for @Columbia‘s shameless complicity in genocide! The University’s repression has only bred more resistance, lighting a flame it can’t control,” they added.
“Katrina Armstrong you will not be allowed peace as you sic NYPD officers and ICE agents on your own students for opposing the genocide of the Palestinian people.”
The NYPD responded to the scene, but it was not immediately clear who was responsible for the vandalism, police said. No arrests have been made.
The damage came hours after nearly 100 protesters were taken into custody as they crowded the dining area of Trump Tower Thursday afternoon, demanding Khalil’s release.
Protesters also rallied outside Federal Plaza Immigration Court and swept much of Lower Manhattan earlier this week as they chanted anti-Israel slogans and called for Khalil’s freedom.
