NEW YORK — A campus safety officer at a public college in New York City has been suspended after footage circulated online showing him cursing at pro-Palestinian protesters at a graduation ceremony and saying he supported killing them all, the school confirmed Friday.
An unidentified protester filmed the officer during Thursday’s graduation at the College of Staten Island, part of the public City University of New York system, which was rocked by a recent police crackdown on campus protests.
In a highly edited video circulated by Instagram accounts affiliated with student protest organizers, a protester can be heard yelling at the officer, “You support genocide!”
“Yes I do, I support genocide,” says the officer. “I support killing all you guys, how about that?”
In another clip posted in the video, the officer can be heard hurling an expletive at another protester, followed by “your mother.”
CUNY confirmed the suspension Friday but declined to provide details, such as if the officer was on paid leave.
“We condemn the offensive language used by a CUNY officer,” College of Staten Island spokesperson David Pizzuto said in a statement. “His words don’t reflect the values of the College of Staten Island or the 50 officers on our Public Safety staff. The officer has been suspended pending a full review of the incident, and we will take further action as appropriate.”
