Justice Department divided over targeting of Columbia student protestors: Report

The Justice Department has been internally wracked with division between those who wish to penalise student protestors at Columbia University and those who believe such behaviour is unjustified and violates First Amendment rights, reported The New York Times on Thursday.

Emil Bove III’s aggressive investigation – conducted by the civil rights division, which has traditionally protected the rights of minority groups - has apparently resulted in pushback from a federal magistrate judge and an exodus of lawyers from the division in recent weeks.

Following a demonstration on 26 February by Barnard College students against the expulsion of some of their peers, Bove asked the department to investigate membership in the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (Cuad). Concerned investigators pushed back on these instructions because it “seemed like a possible violation of their First Amendment rights”.

Bove then tried to obtain a search warrant for non-public data associated with the group’s Instagram account, saying it had been used to “make a threat". Once again, prosecutors pushed back. In late March, Meta suspended Cuad’s account, citing it did not meet “community standards”.

Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor who specialises in prosecutorial ethics, said Bove had used “the law enforcement powers of the government to try to intimidate these individuals or destroy their rights” and it was “far past the line of prosecutorial professionalism and the commitment to principles of justice.”