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When Fox News correspondent CB Cotton attempted to interview some of the anti-Israel protesters milling about on Columbia University’s campus in Upper Manhattan, she was confronted and told to speak with an unidentified “media team.”
Cotton, who said she was permitted to film on campus by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, asked the protesters to elaborate on their demands to no avail.
Reporting on “The Ingraham Angle,” Cotton told guest host Pete Hegseth she wanted to attempt to get live feedback from protesters, and approached some students in the crowd, and began speaking with a young woman wearing a keffiyeh and a facemask.
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS HEARD SHOUTING ‘WE ARE ALL HAMAS, PIG’
Pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate along NYPD police lines outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
As she began to ask them questions, another student approached and interrupted.
“We have, like, a media team if you’re interested in talking to people,” said the student, who was also wearing a headscarf.
When Cotton replied that other broadcast journalists were present, the student who interrupted the interview said she would direct her to the “media team” under the stipulation that the Fox News cameraman would stop recording.
“Well, we just want to talk to you all about your demands for the university,” Cotton said.
“OK, yeah, we do have a press team,” the second student replied.
IRANIAN-AMERICAN LAWYER WHOSE RESPONSE TO ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS WENT VIRAL PREDICTS NEW WORLD WAR
Pro-Palestine protestors demonstrate outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
When Cotton indicated the Columbia Journalism school had welcomed Fox News in what was referred to as a “liberated zone,” the student expressed surprise that the administration would speak on behalf of the protesting students.
“I will totally have that conversation with [Cotton] — I would appreciate your respect… ” she continued before another student said, “Let’s walk away for a second.”
At that point, Cotton turned back to address Hegseth.
“[T]hey’re very selective about who they allow into this ‘liberated zone.’ There are other cameras in there right now. We can see those cameras, but again, our camera is not allowed in,” she said.
Hegseth noted how the students covered their faces when the camera approached.
Cotton later said that students unaffiliated with the protests have found them a distraction from typical campus life. Demonstrating students also recently pitched tents in the outdoor commons, but were met Thursday with pushback from law enforcement, which arrested about 100 protesters with the blessing of Columbia President Minouche Shafik, according to the New York Post.
VideoAccording to an earlier Fox News report, the campus protesters have had to show identification to prove they should be on campus, as New York Post columnist and part-time Columbia student Rikki Schlott said on “Your World.”
That, Schlott said, has led to a difference between student protests and more raucous protests occurring in the rest of Morningside Heights.
Throughout the day Friday, Fox News aired clips from the protests, including video of demonstrators near a food cart on what appeared to be Broadway in Morningside Heights, shouting that there should and will be more “October 7s,” a reference to Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians in 2023.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
