Columbia settles lawsuit with janitors victimized by anti-Israel mob

One janitor, who was held against his will by violent rioters, was called a “Jew-lover” and beaten with furniture.

Two Columbia University janitors who were held hostage and assaulted during a violent anti-Israel protest on campus have reached a settlement with the university, agreeing to drop a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in exchange for an undisclosed sum in punitive damages.

The janitors, Lester Wilson and Mario Torres, were targeted during the April 2024 takeover of Hamilton Hall by anti-Israel demonstrators.

The settlement funds will come from a $220 million fine Columbia agreed to pay to the Trump administration for racially discriminatory practices and other violations.

Despite the agreement with the university, Wilson and Torres are continuing with a separate lawsuit against 40 demonstrators who confined them inside the building.

That suit seeks compensation for physical injuries, as well as emotional and psychological distress caused by the attack.

“The whole idea of this case was to go after and to hold accountable those organizations and individuals who were actually responsible for planning, coordinating and carrying out the takeover of Hamilton Hall and the assault of these janitors,” Alyza Lewin, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which is representing the janitors in both cases, told JNS.

According to the now-withdrawn lawsuit, Wilson and Torres were working inside Hamilton Hall when masked intruders flooded the building and zip-tied the exits shut.

Torres said he was called a “Jew-lover” and repeatedly assaulted with furniture as he attempted to flee. He eventually escaped the building.

Wilson, who is African-American, pleaded with the mob to let him leave.

“I work here. Let me out,” he said, according to the filing.

Protesters mocked him and responded with slurs, telling him, “You work for the Jews,” and “You’re a Zionist.”

Eventually, one of the demonstrators opened a door and Wilson was violently shoved out of the building.