Columbia janitor reveals secret plans left behind by anti-Israel protesters who took over Hamilton Hall armed with zip ties, chains

Matthew Sedacca
·3 min read
Columbia protest
Columbia protest

Columbia University janitors were gripped with “sheer terror” as a mob of violent anti-Israel protesters stormed Hamilton Hall and took over the building on April 30 — armed with hand-drawn floor plans and supply lists, says a longtime custodian for the Ivy League university.

As dozens of rioters busted through glass and barricaded the entrances to occupy the historic university building, four janitors found themselves trapped inside and afraid, Henry Clemente, a head custodian for Columbia, told The Post.

“If you have masked people running through the building with zip ties and chains, you don’t know what they’re going to do — if they’re going to take you hostage, if you’re going to be tortured, if you’re going to be made an example,” Clemente said.

Columbia University janitors were gripped with “sheer terror” as a mob of violent anti-Israel protesters stormed Hamilton Hall and took over the building. Henry Clemente
Columbia University janitors were gripped with “sheer terror” as a mob of violent anti-Israel protesters stormed Hamilton Hall and took over the building. Henry Clemente

Afterward, as he and his colleagues started to clean up the hall after NYPD cops busted up the occupation, Clemente discovered secret plans left behind by the highly organized rioters.

These included hand-drawn floor plans and supply lists noting locations of barricading equipment; a “task list” with items including setting up a pulley system and “security shifts” and even a schedule listing the times of the Muslim call to prayer.

The documents show that the protesters had insider knowledge of the campus and plotted the takeover in advance, he said.

“I’ve been working there a long time, so we know where the tunnels are, but they mapped everything out,” said Clemente, who has worked at Columbia for 17 years.

“They had a food room, a prayer room, the smoking room…they were in there for the long haul.”

The left-behind documents were first reported by Gothamist.

As dozens of rioters busted through glass and barricaded the entrances to occupy the historic university building, four janitors found themselves trapped inside and afraid, Henry Clemente, a head custodian for Columbia, told The Post. Henry Clemente
As dozens of rioters busted through glass and barricaded the entrances to occupy the historic university building, four janitors found themselves trapped inside and afraid, Henry Clemente, a head custodian for Columbia, told The Post. Henry Clemente

The facilities boss, who was off work at the time, received a call that his workers had been stuck inside the building.

“Even if it’s two minutes, two minutes could feel like an eternity just faced with the massive numbers [of protesters]” charging into the building.

“I could imagine the sheer terror that they had gone through,” he added.

Clemente said the day the police went into Hamilton Hall was “the most fearful day” of the weeks-long protests at the Ivy League school, but understood the need to get the demonstrators out of the building fast, particularly in today’s “post-9/11 world.”

“We have a lot of enemies in the world, like Russia, and China,” he said.

“There’s proxy wars and different things going on, so we don’t know who was in the building.”

Mayor Adams and NYPD officials have said outside agitators were behind planning the university protests.

Afterward, as he and his colleagues started to clean up the hall after NYPD cops busted up the occupation, Clemente discovered secret plans left behind by the highly organized rioters. Henry Clemente
Afterward, as he and his colleagues started to clean up the hall after NYPD cops busted up the occupation, Clemente discovered secret plans left behind by the highly organized rioters. Henry Clemente

Of the roughly 44 arrested inside Hamilton Hall, 13 were not affiliated with Columbia.

Since NYPD cops stormed the building and arrested the protesters, Clemente has been in charge of cleaning up the mess left behind by the privileged rioters, one of whom is allegedly the 40-year-old son of wealthy ad execs who lives in a $3.4 million Brooklyn townhouse.

The protesters managed to disable the elevator, and threw hundreds of chairs from the classrooms down the stairs before zip-tying them together.

They also removed tabletops from desks and drilled them into windows as barricades.

Clemente estimates that it will cost the university millions to fully repair Hamilton Hall.