Columbia University exec’s New York apartment building vandalized with red paint and crickets

The Brooklyn, New York, apartment building of Columbia University’s chief operating officer was vandalized with red paint and crickets, police said. The Brooklyn, New York, apartment building of Columbia University’s chief operating officer was vandalized Thursday with red paint and crickets, police said. NYPD Officers were called at around 3 a.m. Thursday to a building on Orange Street, where the university’s COO Cas Holloway lives. A preliminary investigation determined that two people threw red paint inside the building’s vestibule and unleashed a box containing crickets and mealworms, police said in a statement. Several other people involved caused “damage to the front of the building by throwing paint on the building and sidewalk,” according to police. NBC New York reported that the vandals allegedly left threatening posters with Holloway’s name and picture, criticizing his handling of the protests. Dozens of people were arrested on campus in April after police cleared out Hamilton Hall, which had been taken over by protesters. In June, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office dismissed cases against 31 people mostly because of a lack of evidence. One of the posters outside Holloway’s building contained an image of a noose, according to NBC New York. “Let us be clear: Acts like these are an affront to our values,” spokesperson Ben Chang said in a statement Thursday. “We condemn them unequivocally.” Chang said anyone who engages in that type of behavior will be reported to police “and face the appropriate discipline.” “We regret that Cas and his neighbors had to endure this vile attack,” he said. “Hateful, antisemitic displays like this will not be tolerated in New York, and the perpetrators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” she said in a post on X. A criminal complaint alleges that Taylor Pelton and five other unapprehended individuals defaced Pasternak’s home as well as the home of Kimberly Panicek Trueblood, the president and chief operating officer of the Brooklyn Museum. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/columbia-university-coo-cas-holloway-red-paint-apartment-rcna166079