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The morning after New York City police flooded Columbia University and arrested at least 100 students and faculty for trespassing on their own campus, Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard — who rode into the scene last night on top of an armored military vehicle — got on a morning talk show to claim that protestors brought a heavy duty chain to barricade doors.
“This is not what students bring to school,” Sheppard said, holding the chain to the camera. “These are heavy industrial chains that were locked with bike locks, and this is what we encountered on every door inside of Hamilton Hall.”
Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard shows the chains used to secure Hamilton Hall at Columbia University.
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) May 1, 2024
"This is not what students bring to school. This is what professionals bring to campuses and universities." pic.twitter.com/fwFUPZlIj7
But this is exactly what students bring to school, and it’s a bike lock chain that’s recommended to them through the Columbia University website. As journalist Aric Toler and several others have pointed out on social media, this exact Kryptonite brand lock was recently on sale through Columbia's Public Safety department, as part of its "Crime Prevention Discount Bike, Locker and Laptop Lock Program.”