Mayor Eric Adams defiantly told New York City colleges Sunday that they should move forward with their graduation ceremonies and not cave to anti-Israel provocateurs looking to disrupt the proceedings.
“It’s a wonderful experience to graduate from an institution, and I don’t think we should allow anything to get in the way of our normal way of life,” Adams said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“We’ll do our job, and if the institutions decide to graduate their students and celebrate a beautiful experience with their families, we will make sure it’s done in a peaceful manner,” he said.
The mayor defended the police crackdown on campus protests at Columbia University and CUNY’s City College in Manhattan, two of a slew of anti-Israel disturbances across the country.
Adams said the Manhattan school protests escalated into criminal activity and violence when protesters — including many “agitators” who were not students — occupied a building and vandalized property.