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The Free Press
Exclusive: Columbia Custodian Trapped by ‘Angry Mob’ Speaks Out
Exclusive: Columbia Custodian Trapped by ‘Angry Mob’ Speaks Out
“People don’t feel comfortable walking through a mob to get into campus. That’s crazy,” Mario Torres tells The Free Press. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
‘We don’t expect to go to work and get swarmed.’ A Free Press exclusive with facilities worker Mario Torres.
By Frannie Block
05.07.24 — U.S. Politics
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The Free Press
The Free Press
Exclusive: Columbia Custodian Trapped by ‘Angry Mob’ Speaks Out

It’s the viral image that captured the clash between the anti-Israel protesters who stormed Columbia and the campus workers who tried to stop them. As the mob invaded Hamilton Hall in the early hours of April 30, a facilities worker was photographed pushing a demonstrator against a wall. 

Later, it emerged that the protester was a 40-year-old trust fund …

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Frannie Block

Frannie Block is an investigative reporter at The Free Press, where she covers the forces shaping American life—from foreign influence in U.S. politics and national security to institutional overreach and due process failures. She began her career covering breaking news at The Des Moines Register.

Tags:
Politics
Campus Wars
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