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Cornell University’s president says he was a victim of “harassment and intimidation” after being accused of striking individuals with his vehicle during a campus parking lot confrontation over students’ freedom of speech.
The incident unfolded on April 30, after Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff introduced an Israel-Palestinian debate series hosted by the Cornell Political Union and co-sponsored by the Cornellians for Israel, Cornell Progressives and Students for Justice in Palestine, according to a statement released by Kotlikoff.
While walking to his car, Kotlikoff said he was followed into the on-campus parking lot by a group of individuals – both students and non-students – who were “known to Cornell for their past conduct, including a long history of ongoing verbal and online abuse toward numerous members of Cornell’s administration and staff.”
The group included two individuals who had been banned from campus following a “disruptive protest,” Kolitkoff said.
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Surveillance footage from Cornell University shows President Michael Kotlikoff backing his vehicle into a group of individuals who had surrounded it in a campus parking lot on April 30. (Cornell University)
“These individuals followed me from the event space and across campus, while loudly shouting questions and recording on their phones. After answering a few questions, I let them know that I was not planning to engage further, and asked them to stop recording,” Kotlikoff said.
“Their response to this was, ‘No, we are not going to stop,’” he claimed. “They continued to follow me to my car and then surrounded the car, banging on the windows, blocking the car, and shouting. I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot.”
However, Aiden Vallecillo, a member of Students for a Democratic Cornell (SDC), told WSYR the students were trying to peacefully question Kotlikoff before the university president escalated the situation.
“We saw the president in the hallway and started to ask him questions about the repression of free speech on campus,” Vallecillo reportedly said.
Video released by the university shows Kotlikoff’s black Cadillac backing out of a parking lot as the group appeared to be standing behind his vehicle.
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Surveillance footage from Cornell University shows President Michael Kotlikoff being followed into a campus parking lot by a group of individuals on April 30. (Cornell University)
“As we were still trying to talk to him, he just immediately started reversing into us,” Vallecillo told the outlet.
The group reportedly alleges Kolitkoff backed into one student and ran over Vallecillo’s foot before driving away.
According to Kotlikoff, the group surrounded his vehicle, “banging on the windows, blocking the car, and shouting.”
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“I waited until I saw space behind the car and then, using my car’s rear pedestrian alert and automatic braking system, was able to slowly maneuver my car from the parking space and exit the parking lot,” Kotlikoff added.
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Sophia Arnold, the student group’s president, told WSYR she witnessed the alleged incident and was upset by Kotlikoff’s alleged escalation.
“I don’t even have the words for it. I was pretty shocked and offended,” Arnold said. “A random pedestrian pulling out of a supermarket parking lot would probably have shown more care.”
An aerial view shows the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, N.Y., on April 11, 2023. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg)
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Arnold also reportedly disputed Kotlikoff’s version of events.
“Contrary to the university statement, we really weren’t intending to block President Kotlikoff in his car,” Arnold told WSYR, adding, “He hadn’t signaled or honked, or even rolled down the window and said, ‘get out of my way.’”
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Details regarding whether the incident had been reported to campus police remained unclear as of Monday.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cornell University and the Students for a Democratic Cornell for comment.