Pro-Palestinian vandals defaced the Brooklyn Heights apartment building where Columbia University COO Cas Holloway lives. Courtesy of Myles Miller/X Screenshot

By Lauren Markoe August 9, 2024

Vandals defaced the apartment building of Columbia University’s chief operating officer with red paint Thursday morning, smashed a glass door and left fliers on his Brooklyn block blaming him for the arrest of pro-Palestinian protesters at the university in June.

They also painted inverted red triangles on the Brooklyn Heights building, a symbol Hamas uses to label targets, and that has been co-opted by activists. Vandals also released crickets into the building, according to the Daily News.

The fliers, which included his address and apartment number, said COO Cas Holloway “brutalized” and “imprisoned” students, referencing the university’s decision to call in the New York City Police Department to break down protesters’ encampment and remove those who occupied one of its most storied buildings on campus. In black and red type the flier demanded that Columbia “Divest from Israel, divest from genocide,” and not expel students involved in this past year’s protests.

“Did you enjoy our present? Did it make you feel uncomfortable?” the leaflet reads. “Whatever you felt was incomparable to the pain you made Columbia students feel when you signed off on their brutalization because they stood against the genocide of Palestinians.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the incident and said the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating. “Hateful, antisemitic displays like this will not be tolerated in New York, and the perpetrators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Hochul said in a post on X. 

Mark Treyger, the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, said on X, “This disgusting and despicable act is straight out of the 1930’s Nazi playbook.”

A spokesperson for the university said: “Columbia unequivocally condemns vandalism, threats, and personal attacks. Anyone engaging in such activity will be reported to law enforcement and face appropriate discipline. Every member of our community deserves to feel safe, valued, and able to thrive.”

Columbia was the epicenter of a national pro-Palestinian campus movement protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The vandalism follows June incidents in which vandals defaced the home of the Jewish president of the Brooklyn Museum with red paint and inverted red triangles, and hung a banner vilifying her as a “White-Supremacist Zionist” on its facade. The homes of three other museum staffers and board members, who are not Jewish, were also defaced to express opposition to the museum’s response to a protest there in May. Police have made two arrests in the case, including a videographer, Samuel Seligson, who was arrested on Tuesday. He was charged with four felonies, including hate crimes charges.

In addition, at least one Columbia trustee has had their home picketed. 

Holloway began as Columbia’s COO in January. He served as a deputy mayor under former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

JTA contributed to this story.

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