Sen. Rick Scott joins college pro-Israel rally
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) joined a pro-Israel rally on the campus of George Washington University on Thursday.
“Jewish students deserve to have a place where they can learn and go about their daily life without fearing for their safety, and they deserve university leadership that fights for their right to do so,” Scott said in a statement. “As I told the students I met with last night, my daughter attended GW and what I am seeing on that campus today is something I never could have imagined.”
Recent USF protests leave some worried graduation ceremonies could be disrupted
Scott said he is saddened because he feels universities are appeasing “pro-Hamas terrorist sympathizers.”
“This isn’t free speech,” Scott said. “These pro-Hamas protesters are breaking our laws, calling for the death of Jewish people and threatening our students. These criminals must be prosecuted and expelled.”
Scott has called on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to explain her decision not to provide police support on campus.
President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that “order must prevail” as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear.
“Dissent is essential for democracy,” Biden said at the White House. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.”
Biden said that he did not want the National Guard to be deployed to campuses. Some Republicans have called for sending in troops, an idea with a fraught history. Four students were shot and killed at Kent State University by members of the Ohio National Guard during protests over the Vietnam War in 1970.
Tensions on college campuses have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized widespread attention.
Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to “score political points,” calling the situation a “moment for clarity.”
“There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos,” Biden said shortly before leaving the White House for a trip to North Carolina. “People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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