A book on terrorism displayed by NYPD brass among the items seized in the raid on a Columbia University building taken over by pro-Palestinian protesters as evidence of ill intent is a widely published textbook written by a British historian, according to the publisher.
“Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction,” by Charles Townshend, is an historic look at recent attacks in an attempt to define terrorism and answer the question, “What can we do to stop it?,” says a description by publisher Oxford University Press.
The NYPD’s Kaz Doughtry, Deputy Commissioner of Operations, included the book in a visual array on a social media post along with a cache of hammers, gas masks and knives recovered from the raid on Columbia’s Hamilton Hall on Tuesday, when 44 protestors were arrested.
“These are the tools of agitators, of people who were working on something nefarious,” Daughtry wrote on X on Thursday.
Townshend, in a response to the News, expressed disappointment at the NYPD.
“It’s never nice to be misrepresented,” Townshend told the Daily News. “But I think there may be an implication that people should not write about the subject at all — which feels like part of the wider current threat to academic freedom.”
Daughtry, appearing on the cable outlet News Max, held up the book amid a growing debate over whether outside forces are influencing events at Columbia, CCNY and other colleges across the city.
“Let’s talk about Hamilton Hall. A book on terrorism. I’ve said it before, there’s somebody, whether it’s paid, not paid, but they are radicalizing our students,” Daughtry said.
A call to the NYPD for comment was not immediately returned.
The issue of whether “outside agitators” were behind the encampment protests that culminated in the short-lived occupation of Hamilton Hall has become a focus of intense debate. Mayor Adams, NYPD officials and college leaders have repeatedly said outsiders were influencing student behavior, while student protest leaders deny that’s the case.
About half of the 300 or so arrested last week at Columbia and CCNY weren’t students or faculty at the schools. Forty-four of the arrests at Columbia happened inside Hamilton Hall; of them, 25 were Columbia students or employees, six were students at unidentified “affiliated institutions” and 13 were “nonaffiliates,” data obtained by the News shows.
The book by Townshend, part of a series carried by college and university libraries, is listed in the online catalog of Columbia University Library. The characterization of the work prompted a backlash on social media.
“It’s quite unbelievable, but NYPD is trying to portray Columbia students as dangerous elements of society using a book whose title includes the word ‘terrorism,’” wrote one contributor, Alon Mizrahi, in a post on X.
The controversy has drawn attention to Townshend’s other works, which include histories of the British rule of Ireland.
“Irish historians better hide all our Charles Townshend books quick,” wrote Irish historian Cormac Moore on X.
With Rocco Parascandola, Cayla Bamberger, Chris Sommerfeldt, Michael Gartland
