Trump says police raid on Columbia anti-Israel protesters ‘beautiful to watch’

Former US president Donald Trump speaks upon arriving at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)
Former US president Donald Trump speaks upon arriving at Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump says it “was a beautiful thing to watch” New York police officers raiding a Columbia University building occupied by anti-Israel students, calling the protesters “raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.”

“New York was under siege last night,” Trump tells supporters at a campaign rally in Wisconsin. He praises the police officers for arresting about 300 protesters.

“Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza and various other places,” Trump says, referring to media reports of plans by the administration of US President Joe Biden to accept some Gaza refugees. The crowd boos in response.

CBS News said it had obtained internal government documents showing that US officials have been discussing different options to resettle Palestinians who have been displaced by the fighting in Gaza after they pass a battery of screening tests.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier today that the Biden administration was looking into a plan to relocate some Palestinian refugees who are related to Americans.

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