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A New York City councilwoman who was arrested after allegedly bringing a handgun to a pro-Palestinian rally in Brooklyn earlier this month, slammed Cooper Union on social media after Jewish students were barricaded inside a library on Wednesday as pro-Palestinian protesters were seen harassing them.

Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican who represents the 48th District, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that she had spoken with four Jewish students from Cooper Union, three of whom were inside the library on Wednesday when protesters “violently” banged on the doors.

After speaking with the students, Vernikov shared a few take-aways regarding the incident.

Although the rally was intended to be outside the school on public property, she said, the protesters “stormed” the library and there were no consequences for it.

Another take-away was that faculty members canceled classes and encouraged students to participate, offering extra credit, the councilwoman was told by students, and some faculty members even participated in the walk out.

When it came to security, Vernikov learned from students there were not enough security guards on site, and the New York City Police Department did not show up right away. When they did, students alleged, NYPD told students the college did not allow officers on school grounds because Cooper Union is a private school.

“Some of the protesters were acting violent, held antisemitic posters, as well as what looked like sticks,” she said. “Instead of removing protesters from school grounds, the school barricaded the Jewish students in the school library.”

Vernikov added that the Jewish students in the library were “terrified” and “shaken,” fearing that they could have been physically assaulted and injured.

The students allegedly told the councilwoman one of the slogans they heard was, “Globalize the intifada from New York to Gaza,” or uprisings of Palestinians.

“This is a terrible dereliction of duty on behalf of [Cooper Union] to protect its Jewish student from physical harm, a failure to provide them with a safe space, and the university must be held accountable for creating a hostile environment,” Vernikov said. “Heads need to roll.”

Some people are now calling for university president Laura Sparks to step down.

A spokesperson for the school told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the library was closed for 20 minutes as protesters moved through the building. Some students, the spokesperson said, were in the library and remained there when the protests moved through.

“They were accompanied by library staff and chose to stay in the library until the protest was over,” the spokesperson said. “All students, including those who participated in the protest, dispersed by 5:30 p.m. Additionally, to clarify some erroneous reports, NYPD was onsite throughout the day.”

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