Police Investigating People 'Behind' Pro-Palestinian Protests

Officials with the New York Police Department (NYPD) said that their department is looking into who may be "behind" the pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked two universities in Manhattan in recent days.

Several dozen demonstrators were arrested by police Monday night after students set up a pro-Palestinian encampment on New York University's campus. The demonstration, which started at around 50 individuals near the Stern School of Business, grew to hundreds of protestors before arrests were made. A spokesperson from the university said that it's believed many of the individuals who joined the rally, including some who breached barriers established by campus safety officers, "were not affiliated with NYU."

The protest comes a few days after students at Columbia University clashed with police after setting up an encampment on Wednesday. The university's president, Nemat Shafik, called in the NYPD to clear the encampment a day later after demonstrators refused to leave, and more than 100 arrests were made. Shafik said in a statement that the protest "violated a long list of rules and polices."

Demonstrators are demanding a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza and asking that their schools divest from companies and educational programs that do business with Israel.

Speaking on WNYW's Good Day New York on Tuesday, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry suggested that law enforcement was looking into both incidents for signs that the same individuals may be instigating the protests, adding that he believes someone could be "funding this."

"Look at the tents," Daughtry said. "They all were the same color, they all were the same type of tents. The same ones that we saw or NYU, the same ones that we see in Colombia. To me, I think somebody's funding this."

Daughtry added that "professional agitators" have also joined the student-led protests who "are just looking for something...to be agitated."

"Somebody's behind this, and we're going to find out who it is," Daughtry added.

Newsweek reached out to the NYPD via email Monday morning for further comment.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard, who joined Daughtry on WNYW, added that police "know that there are some professional" agitators who were involved in both demonstrations that police had to intervene in.

"And one of the things they will do is try and inject things like weapons, bottles, rocks, to ignite a confrontation between the police and possibly peaceful protesters," Sheppard said. "They want the police to react to bottles being thrown or rocks being thrown."

Instances of aggression and antisemitic sentiment have been reported at both of the protests, although supporters of the demonstrations, including faulty members at both NYU and Columbia, have condemned university officials for using police force to break up the encampments, saying that the student-led protests have been peaceful.

Student groups at Columbia that helped organize the encampment have also said that they are "frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us" and have condemned "any form of hate or bigotry and stand vigilant against non-students attempting to disrupt" the rallies.

Both Daughty and Sheppard said that they saw instances of aggression during the protests at NYU on Monday, including instance of water bottles being thrown or chairs being lifted.

Sheppard added that the number of agitators was "definitely not a large percentage" of the protests at NYU or Columbia, "but all it takes is a small number to try and put this into play."

"And so we don't want to see any officers get hurt, we don't want to see anybody who was just exercising their First Amendment right not be able to do that peacefully," Sheppard said.

"But, when you are trespassing, and when you are told by the police that you have to go...then if you cooperate, none of this will take place," he added.