The pro-Palestinian protesters had dispersed just a few minutes later and no one was injured or arrested, but the story seemed to grow more dire the further it traveled. Posts that went viral falsely claimed that the library had been barricaded to protect the students inside from an angry mob, and that the police were afraid to get involved.
The Cooper Union protest quickly became a symbol, to some, of rising antisemitism on American college campuses during the Israel-Hamas war. The Cooper Union, typically low-profile, was mentioned repeatedly at a Republican presidential debate.
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