While speaking to the media on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump criticized the Columbia protesters, asking if they would be treated the same as the infamous Jan. 6 protesters.
“This whole country is up in arms, breaking into colleges, knocking the hell out of Columbia University,” Trump told reporters who were outside his New York courtroom where he is being tried in a hush money case.
Trump went on to blast the protesters who have been occupying the campus’s Hamilton Hall building since late Monday night.
“I mean, they took over — I know the building very well. They took over a building, that is a big deal,” the former president continued. “And I wonder if what’s going to happen to them will be anything comparable to what happened to J6, because they’re doing a lot of destruction, a lot of damages, a lot of people getting hurt very badly.”
He then continued, asking what kind of punishment the protesters might receive, comparing their actions to those who stormed the United States Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I wonder if that’s going to be the same kind of treatment they gave J6,” Trump said. “Let’s see how that all works out. I think I can give you the answer right now. And that’s why people have lost faith in our court system.”
While legal trouble is still up in the air, Columbia came out on Tuesday and said that the students inside Hamilton Hall are facing potential expulsion if they don’t vacate the building which they have barricaded themselves inside.
Protests have broken out on college campuses across the country, not just at Columbia, with students demanding support for Palestine as Israel’s war in Gaza rages on.
Nationwide, the Associated Press reports that approximately 1,000 people have been arrested on campuses for their role in protests.
As for the comparison between Jan. 6 protesters and the punishment they faced, the Justice Department has criminally charged hundreds of people who stormed the Capitol, with many pleading guilty.
Trump is also facing federal charges over the day’s events and his efforts to stay in power and change the election results.