It’s been a rough couple of weeks at Columbia University in New York City since pro-Hamas radicals took over the campus, commandeered an entire building, vandalized school property, and intimidated and harassed Jewish students. They were eventually hauled off when the school finally asked for assistance from the NYPD to rid the school of the scourge.

Background:

WATCH: Tears Fall Like Rain As Police Retake Hamilton Hall and Take Down Pro-Hamas Fanatics

CHAOS: Columbia Pro-Hamas Fanatics Storm Hamilton Hall, Barricade Inside and Desecrate Building

Although the protesters were finally removed, the school quickly bent the knee to their will and advised professors that they could cancel final exams if they so chose to protect the little darling students. Meanwhile, it turned out that many of the protesters weren’t even students at all but were paid agitators. 

Embattled university president Minouche Shafik finally spoke about the NYPD action Friday in a video statement and sounded surprisingly tough on the demonstrators. "Surprisingly" because she coddled them and let them run roughshod over the school for weeks until the police were finally allowed in.

The president said that the school administration tried “very hard to solve the issue of encampment through dialogue,” but the protesters, whom she noted were largely peaceful, declined the school’s offer...

“Academic leaders talked with students for eight days and nights,” she said. “The university made a sincere and good offer but it was not accepted.”

The protesters “crossed a new line” when they broke into and occupied the university’s iconic Hamilton Hall, Shafik said.

“It was a violent act that put our students at risk as well as putting the protesters at risk,” she said, adding that she had a firsthand look at the “distressing” damages to the building.

Watch:

Columbia President Minouche Shafik
releases statement after the clearing of the encampment.

“A group of protesters crossed a new line with the occupation of Hamilton Hall. It was a violent act that put out students at risk as well as putting the protesters at risk.” pic.twitter.com/2lnib1sdbq

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 3, 2024

She also finally acknowledged all the damage that the students who weren’t down for the cause had to suffer through:

The turmoil and tension, division and disruption have impacted the entire community. You are students who paid an exceptionally high price.

You lost your final days in the classroom and residence halls. For those of you who are seniors, you’re finishing the way you started: online.

And who's fault is that exactly? Someone hand her a mirror. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday night an annual tradition where students scream before finals morphed into yet another anti-Israel protest outside Shafik’s home:

#BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTEST AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT’S RESIDENCE

Demonstrators gather outside President Minouche Shafik's residence, chanting "How can you not be ashamed?" coupled with primal screams.

The protest highlights escalating tensions over university… pic.twitter.com/SygyNWwyxR

— Genius Bot X (@GeniusBotX) May 3, 2024

Although some of Shafik’s comments were critical of the protesters, she quickly reverted to form and started indulging them again.

“The issues that are challenging us  — the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, anti-Semitism, and anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias  — have existed for a long time,” she said.

“And Columbia, despite being a remarkable institution, cannot solve them singlehandedly. What we can do is be an exemplar of a better world, where people who disagree do so civilly, recognize each other’s humanity and show empathy and compassion for one another,” Shafik concluded.

I didn’t see a lot of empathy and humanity from the extremist zealots. Meanwhile, she’s not getting much empathy and humanity from a Columbia faculty group, who called for a vote of no confidence in her leadership Thursday. The group of outraged lefties whined in a statement about “the “horrific police attack on our students:”

We unequivocally condemn the decision taken by President Shafik, the Board of Trustees, the Chief Operating Officer, and associated administrators on April 30 to summon the New York Police Department to remove student protesters from campus. 

These offenses culminated in the horrific police attack on our students that is now shamefully on view for the whole world to see.

No, what was shameful for the world to see was the lawlessness perpetuated by students, faculty, and agitators. It should never have been allowed to go on as long as it did, and now Shafik is caught in the middle between those who believe the campus and all its students must be protected and those who think rioting and destruction are their right. 

Her statement is likely to make exactly no one happy.

More:

Paid 'Professional Agitators' Are Fomenting Violence on America’s Campuses

Jonathan Turley Lays Some Reality on New Laughable Demand From Columbia Law Students

Speaker Johnson Calls on 'Very Weak' Columbia University President to Resign Over Pro-Hamas Protests