The wife of an ex-college professor convicted of terrorism-related charges was spotted hanging out at Columbia University’s encampment prior to the dramatic NYPD raid where cops busted 109 people Tuesday night.
Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday blamed “outside agitators” for the campus chaos, saying cops had identified individuals who weren’t Columbia students among the protesters.
While he refused to offer up names, Hizzoner told MSNBC during a media blitz that “one of the individual’s husband was arrested for and convicted for terrorism on a federal level.”
“One of them was married to someone that was arrested for terrorism,” he later reiterated during a follow-up interview on CBS.
Sami Al-Arian — who pleaded guilty in 2005 to fundraising and other support for the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad — had earlier boasted on social media that his wife, Nahla, was among those who joined anti-Israel protesters at the Ivy League campus last week.
Al-Arian, who was deported from the US in 2015 after serving time, shared a photo of his wife smiling and sitting alone among the tents.
Police later clarified Nahla Al-Arian was only on the Morningside Heights campus last week and was not among the pro-terror mob that broke into an academic building early Tuesday and occupied it for nearly 24 hours before cops were given the green light to storm in and make arrests.
While there was also no evidence of any wrongdoing on her part, the NYPD’s head of counterterrorism said Nahla’s on-campus presence wasn’t something she’d want for her own child.
“We have no evidence of any criminal wrongdoing on her part but that’s something I wouldn’t want influencing my child if I were a parent of somebody at Columbia,” Rebecca Weiner, the Deputy Commissioner, Intelligence & Counterterrorism, said as she addressed the ordeal.
“These students don’t come in the door knowing how to barricade themselves behind barriers that they’ve created, right?
“These are all skills that are taught and learned and that presents a problem. And so you know, this is not about policing ideas in any way, shape or form. It is about recognizing when there is an actual public safety concern.”
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Amid the police blitz on Columbia, another 173 protesters were also arrested in violent scenes at the City College of New York late Tuesday.
Charges ranged from trespassing, criminal mischief and burglary, according to cops.
Adams claimed “outside agitators” had swarmed the campuses to radicalize students, but stopped short of providing any other details or evidence.
“If you look, you can find this information. They’re probably acknowledging themselves on social media platforms,” the mayor told MSNBC when asked specifically about the terror ties.
“I’m going to let the Intelligence Division do their job on what information should be released and what information should not be released.”
