The Thursday three network morning shows of ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s Today, and CBS Mornings could not and therefore did not downplay the violence that occurred overnight at Columbia University as pro-Palestinian agitators occupied Butler Library during finals week. However, they did manage to sanitize the message used to justify that violence, as it was mostly claimed they simply want an end to the Gaza War.
Today anchor Savannah Guthrie introduced correspondent Sam Brock, “Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters taken into custody after they stormed a library at Columbia University and refused to leave for hours. NBC's Sam Brock on the campus there for us. Sam, what's the latest here?”
Brock replied that, “this incident brought eerie hallmarks to a disruption on Columbia University's campus just last spring with dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators forcing their way, Savannah, into a private building; in this case, it was Butler Library. They were confronting and surging past public safety officers. According to the university, refusing to show their identification, refusing, Savannah, to leave when asked. That's when Columbia said, frankly, it had no choice but to reach out to the NYPD. They tell us overnight they took in 80 people into custody. You'll see in this video they're wearing zip ties, many of them sporting masks and head scarves to try to conceal their identity.”
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