Trump’s comparison of student protests to January 6 is part of efforts to downplay the attack on the Capitol

NEW YORK — Donald Trump on Tuesday lamented the possibility that pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University could be treated more leniently than the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, marking the second time in a week that the former president has appealed on the ongoing protests on campus. to downplay examples of right-wing violence from the past.

Speaking in the hallway outside a Manhattan courtroom where his criminal hush-money trial is taking place, Trump wondered whether student protesters who seized and barricaded a campus building early Tuesday, some of them vandalizing it in the process, would be treated the same as his colleagues. supporters who attacked the Capitol on January 6 to stop the certification of the presidential results.

“I think I can give you the answer right now,” he said. “And that’s why people have lost confidence in our justice system.”

Trump’s comments demonstrate yet again how he and the Republican Party have sought to minimize the deadliest attack on the seat of American power in more than 200 years, arguing that violent or criminal behavior from the left poses a greater threat. Trump has called the rioters “incredible patriots” and has spoken openly about the prospect of pardons if he wins a second term.

His comments come as he races to reclaim the White House and faces charges in four separate criminal cases. They defend his position that the accusations are orchestrated by Democrats to keep him out of the White House and that he and his supporters are the targets of political persecution by a fundamentally corrupt justice system.

‘They took over a building. That’s a big problem,” Trump said of the protesters in Columbia. “And I wonder if what’s going to happen with them will be anything like what happened with J6, because they’re doing a lot. destruction, a lot of damage, many people are very seriously injured. I wonder if that will be the same kind of treatment they gave J6. Let’s see how that all turns out.

More than 1,350 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 800 of them have been convicted, with about two-thirds receiving prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years. According to the Justice Department, 89 people have pleaded guilty to federal crimes for assaulting law enforcement officers.

Legal scholars and political scientists say Trump’s strategy could help his campaign, but point out there are major differences between Jan. 6 and the campus protests against the war between Israel and Hamas. Students have gathered in camps on Columbia and other campuses to call for a ceasefire and demand that their universities cut financial ties with Israel.

“The protests in Columbia are not aimed at stopping the peaceful transfer of power after elections, and therefore do not threaten the functioning of American democracy,” said Richard Hasen, an election law expert and professor at the University of California Law School , Los Angeles. school.

Hakeem Jefferson, an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University, said the demonstrations in a Columbia building also occupied during a civil rights protest in the 1960s reflect a long tradition of students “pressing the conscience of their country.” to make’.

“This is a tradition of protest. Disruptive, that’s for sure. Annoying for university administrators, for sure,” Jefferson said. “On the contrary, what happened on January 6 was a violent attempt to disrupt the peaceful transition of power. There is no tradition of that in American history. It’s unprecedented. And that is why we naturally have to deal with it differently.”

Some of the recent protests on campus have resulted in clashes with police, and hundreds of students have been arrested. Protesters in some parts of the country have hurled water bottles or other objects at officers, and police have used chemical agents to disperse crowds or lead them away amid shouts.

Trump’s comments build on a strategy by Republicans and conservative social media influencers to redefine what constitutes an insurrection as part of an ongoing effort to influence public perception of January 6. They have used the term to describe public demonstrations and even the 2020 election. placed Democrat Joe Biden in the White House.

Some social media users on Tuesday called Columbia’s Hamilton Hall takeover an “insurrection” and said the media would not describe it that way because the protesters’ views aligned with the political left. Fox News used the reference in an article about the student demonstrators on Tuesday, reporting that “the riot began at approximately 12:30 p.m.”

Legal experts say the term “insurrection” has a specific meaning — a violent uprising that targets government authority — and that protests that do not involve an attempt to dismantle or replace a government should not be classified as such.

Tuesday marked the second time in a week that Trump compared the campus protests to past examples of right-wing violence.

Last week, he claimed that the deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where torch-wielding white supremacists chanted “Jews will not replace us” was “nothing” compared to the anti-Semitism on display during the campus protests.

“The hate wasn’t the kind of hate you have here,” he said.

He walked back the reference in his comments outside court on Tuesday, saying: “Charlottesville is peanuts compared to what you’re looking at now.”

The protests on campus have pitted students against each other, and videos show examples of protesters making anti-Semitic comments and violent threats. Some Jewish students say the hateful rhetoric has made them afraid to set foot on campus.

Meanwhile, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Columbia University said Tuesday that students occupying Hamilton Hall will be evicted.

“Protesters have chosen to escalate to an intolerable situation — destroying property, breaking doors and windows and blocking entrances — and we are continuing the consequences we outlined yesterday,” said Ben Chang, university spokesperson .

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Associated Press writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed to this report.