Outside Agitators Arrested at CCNY Encampment
Share:
Update
The “CUNY 8,” as the protesters are now calling themselves, were offered a generous plea bargain. All declined, choosing instead to face up to seven years in prison if convicted. The plea bargain stipulated that the charges would be fully dismissed after a six-month probationary period and completion of an in-person class on “peaceful and legal protest” and the impacts of protests on the surrounding community. The defendants’ next court appearance is scheduled for February 14, 2025, when their lawyer plans to ask for all charges to be dismissed. Demonstrations supporting the defendants are planned.
Anti-Israel Activists Arraigned in NYC Court
Eight defendants, including well-known pro-terror agitators who were arrested in April at the City College of New York (CCNY) encampment, pleaded not guilty in a New York criminal court on September 5, 2024, to an assortment of charges (see below).
Not one of the eight defendants is a student at CCNY, which is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Rather, they are anti-Israel activists who have wreaked havoc in New York City at various protests since October 2023.
The defendants were arrested after the university called in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to clear the illegal encampment when the violence became too much for campus police.
Watch protesters push back CCNY campus police:
According to a CBS report, 173 people were arrested, however, most were not charged.
Included in the arrests was CUNY professor Corinna Mullin.
Mullin has a history of affiliation with the pro-terror organizations Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Within Our Lifetime (WOL).
Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg said in a statement, “Today’s felony indictments make clear that we will not hesitate to prosecute those who destroy property or commit violence at any protest when we have the appropriate facts and evidence.”
The eight defendants are due back in court on December 16, 2024.
Protesters at CCNY shoot flares during demonstration:
The Defendants and Charges
The defendants were charged with burglary in the third degree, criminal trespass, tampering with physical evidence, criminal mischief in the fourth degree (intentionally causing damage to CCNY property), and possession of burglar’s tools (a C-clamp, box cutter, rope and bolt cutter – tools commonly used to force entry into buildings).
The burglary and trespass charges involved entering and remaining unlawfully in the North Academic Center, located at 160 Convent Avenue with the intention to commit a crime therein. (The center is enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders.)
Two defendants, Jacob Gabriel and Jonathan Rampagoa, were also charged with an attempt to commit the crime of assault in the second degree, with “intent to cause physical injury to a person known to the Grand Jury, attempted to cause injury to such person, by means of a dangerous instrument, to wit, a hard object.”
In layman's terms, the two are accused of throwing a bicycle and computer keyboard at CCNY public safety officers.
Canary Mission has tracked the agitators for months, including:
- Participated in multiple pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic disruptions in January 2024, including a disruption that blocked traffic to JFK airport and impeded access to the airport’s entrance (Martinez rode in a car which had text written on the back of it that read: “F**K ISRAEL” and “LONG LIVE THE RESISTANCE”)
- Participated in an anti-Israel disruption (“Shut it Down for Palestine”), where protesters across New York City blocked three bridges and one tunnel. (Martinez was one of about 40 protesters who shut down traffic on the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg bridge for over an hour.)
- Praised the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023, as “one of the greatest days of my life”
- Fired from her job at the New York Botanical Garden after praising the Hamas terror attack on October 7
- One of 15 people arrested in NYC on February 12, 2024, after demonstrators blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge, Holland Tunnel and Midtown Tunnel
- Charged with obstruction of governmental administration, disorderly conduct for obstructing traffic and failure to obey a police officer
Other Defendants
Other defendants include Jonathan Rampagoa, who was previously caught tearing down hostage posters; Jacob Gabriel, whose prior charges include disorderly conduct, offenses against public administrators, resisting arrest, refusal to move, fighting and trespassing, and storming a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade;
Miranda Levine, Astrid Terrazas and Luis Alberto Cadena
The CCNY Encampment
The pro-terror anti-Israel encampment at CCNY was set up on April 25, 2024. On April 30, 2024, the NYPD was called to clear out the trespassers. Around 170 people were arrested that night.
CCNY faculty were actively involved in the encampment. At one point, they formed a protective line between the protesters and the cops. The Professional Staff Congress, a union representing 30,000 faculty and staff at the City University of New York and the CUNY Research Foundation, created a petition calling on the CUNY chancellor to urge the DA to drop all charges against those arrested when the encampment was broken up.
The encampment caused extensive damage to the college facilities. According to Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista, the protesters caused at least $3 million in damage.
A protester threw a flare that torched the roof of the school’s administration building, causing $350,000 worth of damage. Vandals caused another $250,000 in damage by breaking windows, chairs and other furniture in buildings. In addition, Batista reported upward of $600,000 in damage caused by demonstrators who spray-painted video surveillance cameras to avoid detection.
Featured Profiles
