Outsiders among protesters at Columbia University, but they dispute instigating clashes

NEW YORK – One of the people arrested at Columbia University in the US this past week was a middle-aged saxophonist who headed up to the campus from his Hell’s Kitchen apartment after learning about the pro-Palestinian protests on social media.

A New York Times review of police records and interviews with dozens of people involved in the protest at Columbia found that a small handful of the nearly three dozen arrestees who lacked ties to the university had also participated in other protests across the country. Typical among them was Mr Matthew Cavalletto, a 52-year-old computer programmer who has lived within a kilometre of Columbia for most of his life. Mr Cavalletto, the gardener with the dog bowl, was arrested on the street outside Columbia after he stood in the middle of the intersection and refused to budge. He dismissed the notion that any outsiders were pulling the strings.

“To ignore these facts and solely blame college students for the escalation of violence and hateful rhetoric would be both reckless and misleading, and unfair to students who did want to protest peacefully,” spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said. His lawyer declined to comment. There was no indication Carlson was involved in organising or leading the protests at Columbia.

Columbia has been a national focal point in one of the largest student protest movements in decades. Tensions over the war in the Gaza Strip have prompted a wave of student activism, resulting in the arrests or detainment of more than 2,300 people on campuses nationwide in the US.Amid pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, students say inclusiveness abounds

During a news briefing on May 2, Columbia’s vice-president for communications Ben Chang said figures supplied by the New York Police Department about those accused of occupying Hamilton Hall had confirmed the expectations of university leaders that many of the participants were not connected with Columbia.

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