MESSAGE
| DATE | 2026-05-05 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Assualt of Pro-Hamas protestors at Cornell
|
nypost.com
Cornell president accused of injuring 2 students in parking lot after
Israel debate clash
Chris Bradford
5–6 minutes
The president of Cornell University allegedly ran over the foot of one
student and injured another during a heated parking lot clash after an
Israel-Palestine debate.
Surveillance video from last Thursday showed a group of students
surrounding Michael Kotlikoff’s black Cadillac as they tried to stop him
from leaving.
Kotlikoff then reversed his SUV out of the space before coming to a
sudden stop, video released by the university shows.
Michael Kotlikoff seen interacting with a student.
Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff said he was ‘accosted’
after a Israel-Palestine debate. Cornellians Only / Instagram
He then continued with his maneuver, all while students still surrounded
his vehicle.
A woman was seen standing in front of the Ivy League university
president’s vehicle before moving out of shot as he drove toward her.
Another student filming Kotlikoff made a nuisance of himself by standing
in front of the vehicle as he tried to drive away from the Ithaca, New
York, campus.
Kotlikoff, who has been president of Cornell since March 2025, has been
accused of injuring two students, the group Students for a Democratic
Cornell wrote on Instagram.
“When we tried to discuss campus speech policies, he hit us with his
car,” the group alleged.
“Kotlikoff’s violent response to student inquiry is just another example
of his administration’s repressive crackdown on student speech.”
Video obtained by Cornellians Only showed one student being hit by
Kotlikoff’s car as he was reversing.
“Oh! He just ran over my f–king foot! Oh my God!” Students for a
Democratic Cornell member Aiden Vallecillo yelped.
A student wearing a backpack stands next to a car with its brake lights
illuminated, as if it is reversing.
A student was injured after being hit by Kotlikoff’s car while he was
reversing. Cornellians Only / Instagram
On Friday, Kotlikoff said he was “accosted by a group of several
individuals” as he tried to leave the event which was hosted by the
Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by Cornell Progressives,
Cornellians for Israel, and Students for Justice in Palestine.
“These individuals are known to Cornell for their past conduct,
including a long history of ongoing verbal and online abuse toward
numerous members of Cornell’s administration and staff, as well as
disruptive protest resulting, in the case of two individuals, in bans
from campus,” he said.
CCTV footage of people gathered around a dark SUV in a parking lot at night.
Surveillance footage showed a group loitering by Kotlikoff’s car.
Cornell University
“These individuals followed me from the event space and across campus,
while loudly shouting questions and recording on their phones.
“After answering a few questions, I let them know that I was not
planning to engage further, and asked them to stop recording.
“Their response to this was, ‘No, we are not going to stop.’ They
continued to follow me to my car and then surrounded the car, banging on
the windows, blocking the car, and shouting.
Still image from a video showing several people in a parking lot, with
one person next to a black car with its lights on.
The group continued to surround his car as he tried to drive away.
Cornell University
“I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear
pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly
maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot.”
He went on to say, “The behavior I experienced last night is not
protest. It is harassment and intimidation, with the direct motive of
silencing speech. It has no place in an academic community, no place in
a democracy, and can have no place at Cornell.”
Hudson Athas, who is also a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell,
disputed Kotlikoff’s claims.
“We weren’t all shouting at him — it was mostly one person who was
talking with him and just trying to have a conversation,” Athas told the
Cornell Sun.
Last April, the Trump administration suspended more than $1 billion in
funding for Cornell University while the government investigated alleged
civil rights violations.
The federal government warned university bosses it could bring law
enforcement actions if a review determined it had failed to stop
antisemitism.
The Trump administration has cracked down on pro-Palestinian campus
protests, labeling the demonstrators antisemitic.
In November, Cornell struck an agreement with the government that would
restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
The institution agreed to pay more than $30 million to the government,
and invest an additional $30 million into its agriculture and farming
efficiency programs, for which it’s known.
--
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that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
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DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
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Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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