In December 2023, months before Columbia University student activists took over Hamilton Hall, a group of them "ran riot" through the campus building and "scrawled obscene graffiti, including swastikas," a school janitor alleged in a federal discrimination complaint. Columbia did not investigate the ordeal because the swastikas were considered "free speech" and were "written in chalk and could be erased," according to the janitor, Mariano Torres.
Torres filed the complaint alongside his colleague, Lester Wilson, in October. Both men were working inside Hamilton Hall on the night of April 29, 2024, when Hamas-supporting rioters stormed the building and hoisted a banner calling for "intifada."
Those rioters had a trial run months earlier, according to Torres, who detailed in his complaint a "night in December 2023" in which "dozens of masked and unmasked demonstrators ran riot through the building shouting, 'Free Palestine!,' and 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!'" They "carpeted almost all of Hamilton Hall's eight floors in leaflets" and "scrawled obscene graffiti, including swastikas, throughout the building."
A campus security officer came to take photos of the graffiti and "stated that demonstrators had done the same thing in other buildings on recent nights," Torres's complaint states. But Columbia officials declined to follow up "because the graffiti was 'free speech'" and "was not 'vandalism' because it was written in chalk and could be erased."
"True to the security officer's words, Columbia did nothing in response to the incident," the complaint continues. "It did not increase security inside the building. Nor, to Mr. Torres' knowledge, did Columbia investigate who was responsible for the invasion of Hamilton Hall."
The complaints, which accuse Columbia of illegally retaliating against the two janitors for "reporting antisemitic and racist conduct," come as the Trump administration conducts a full review of the school's $5 billion in federal funding. The administration canceled $400 million in Columbia grants and contracts earlier this month and followed up by slashing another $30 million on Friday, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
They also come as Columbia attempts to fend off civil rights investigations from the Department of Education, Department of Justice, and, now, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which has opened a probe into Torres's and Wilson's complaints, according to the New York Post.
Columbia declined a request for comment.
In addition to the December 2023 "invasion," both Torres and Wilson caught unauthorized individuals hiding in Hamilton Hall overnight in the buildup to the April 2024 takeover. On April 25, for example, Wilson "found a woman hiding in a 'slop sink'—a sink used for the disposal of waste water—inside Hamilton Hall after hours." The woman possessed a Columbia ID and, upon exiting the building, "joined a group of demonstrators at a table in front of Hamilton Hall."
Similar incidents occurred throughout the spring 2024 semester and were reported to Columbia higher-ups to no avail, according to the complaints.
Torres, for example, wrote that he "had seen doors to Hamilton Hall left ajar before while working the overnight shift" and "reported the problem to his supervisors several times, explaining he did not feel safe" but "Columbia did not increase the security presence at Hamilton Hall." Former Columbia president Minouche Shafik went on to reveal that the rioters who took over Hamilton Hall "had been admitted into the building by an individual who had hidden inside Hamilton Hall until after it closed."
Torres and Wilson were working their usual overnight shifts when the takeover occurred. Rioters attempted to bribe Torres to leave the scene, according to his complaint and repeatedly called him "Jew-lover" when he refused to take the money. Wilson's complaint makes similar claims.
"Mr. Wilson stood in the lobby and begged the rioters to let him out of the building. He recalls saying, 'I work here. Let me out,'" the complaint states. "The rioters responded by laughing at him and mocking him. He remembers being told, 'You work for the Jews' and 'You're a Zionist.'"
Torres also clashed that night with James Carlson, a professional activist and animal rights attorney who organized the Hamilton Hall takeover. Though Torres's complaint does not name Carlson, it appears to detail the clash, at one point mentioning a "masked man in a Columbia sweatshirt who began violently shoving" Torres.
"In the struggle, Mr. Torres managed to remove the mask from the man's face along with the hooded sweatshirt the man was wearing," the complaint states. "The man shouted to the other rioters, 'How can you let him do that to me?,' indicating to Mr. Torres that the man had some sort of authority over the mob. The man Mr. Torres unmasked then threatened him, saying, 'I'm going to get twenty guys up here to fuck you up.'"
Torres and Wilson are being represented by Torridon, former attorney general Bill Barr's law firm. Both have been unable to return to work due to "physical injuries and psychological trauma," and both have "exhausted all available sick leave and vacation time," according to the complaints.
Barr welcomed the EEOC investigation into his clients' complaints. "Columbia has a legal and moral obligation to protect the civil rights of its students and employees," Barr told the Post. "It must be held accountable when it fails to do so."