Columbia University Custodians Assaulted by Anti-Israel Mob Sue University

Two Columbia University custodians who were assaulted during an anti-Israel mob takeover have settled with the school for an undisclosed amount.

Lester Wilson and Mario Torres, whose civil rights complaints triggered a federal probe, took part in a $220 million settlement package recently brokered between Columbia and the Trump administration.

While the total settlement covers wide-ranging civil rights violations, $20 million was set aside specifically for employees.

The two janitors’ settlement came from that fund, according to the New York Post.

Despite the deal, Wilson and Torres are not backing down from their legal battle against the anti-Israel mob of over 40 protesters that they say trapped and brutalized them during the infamous Hamilton Hall riot.

Columbia’s multimillion-dollar settlement followed the Trump administration’s decision to restore funding after the university faced accusations of racial and civil rights misconduct.

Wilson and Torres, who are not Jewish, claim the school exposed them to dangerous conditions as anti-Israel protests escalated following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

“The university set up the situation and ended up putting them into that situation,” Brandeis Center President Alyza Lewin said. “Now the issue is holding accountable those who carried it out.”

Both janitors were injured in the riot and have not returned to work since, per the New York Post.

During the Hamilton Hall takeover, the two men were allegedly called “Jew-lovers,” shoved, hit, and threatened.

One masked protester told Torres, “I’m going to get twenty guys up here to f*ck you up.”

Torres responded by grabbing a nearby fire extinguisher and standing his ground. “I’ll be right here,” he replied.

According to the complaint, Torres was hit multiple times in the back while trying to escape. Wilson was shoved and had furniture slammed into him before finally getting out of the building.

The NYPD later cleared the area, arresting over 100 protesters.

Even before the riot, the janitors were forced to scrub swastikas off campus walls as early as November 2023. Wilson, who is Black, said the symbols were distressing and reported them to supervisors — who ordered him to clean them up.

“No matter how many times Mr. Wilson removed the swastikas, individuals kept replacing them with more,” the complaint said.

Torres, who is Latino, grew increasingly frustrated as Columbia failed to act. He began discarding chalk in classrooms so vandals couldn’t use it to draw more hate symbols.

Despite his many efforts, Torres said he was reprimanded by his supervisor for doing so.

At one point, Wilson reported a masked individual running through Hamilton Hall, chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” while drawing swastikas. Campus security allegedly told him the protester was “exercising their First Amendment rights.”

The Brandeis Center and Torridon Law, where former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr is a partner, are now taking over the ongoing lawsuit against the demonstrators.

The post Columbia University Custodians Assaulted by Anti-Israel Mob Sue University appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.