NEW YORK — An NYPD chief blasted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wednesday over her criticisms of police treatment of Columbia University pro-Palestine protesters who were temporarily cleared out of their encampment.

Ocasio-Cortez slammed Columbia’s decision to call on the NYPD to clear out the protesters.

“Not only did Columbia make the horrific decision to mobilize NYPD on their own students, but the units called in have some of the most violent reputations on the force,” the firebrand congresswoman tweeted Wednesday.

“NYPD had promised the city they wouldn’t deploy SRG [Strategic Response Group] to protests. So why are these counterterror units here?”

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chells fired back Thursday, saying officers called to clear out the encampment on Columbia’s campus on April 18 showed “great care and professionalism.”

“Not a single incident was reported,” Chell added in his tweet on X at Ocasio-Cortez. “The only incidents that day on campus were the student’s hateful anti-Semitic speech and vile language towards our cops. I am sure you agree any hateful speech is unacceptable. You should rethink your comments to a simple thank you to the NYPD and hate has no place in our society.”

Cops removed 100 protesters from an encampment the Columbia’s south lawn at the university’s request on April 18. All but a handful were issued summonses for trespassing. But the protesters quickly returned to campus, prompting school officials to temporarily move to all-remote learning.

Chell responded to Ocasio-Cortez’s concerns with sarcasm.

“Truly amazing!” he wrote. “Columbia decided to hold its students accountable to the laws of the school. They are seeing the consequences of their actions. Something these kids were most likely never taught.”

“Good SAT scores and self-entitlement do not supersede the law,” he added. “I am sure you would agree that we have to teach them these valuable life skills.”

...continued

©2024 New York Daily News. Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.