FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The head of the federal task force against anti-Semitism, which has led the controversial crackdown on universities in recent months, says his team plans to intensify action after the shooting that left two Israeli Embassy employees dead in downtown Washington.
Leo Terrell, a former Democrat and Fox News contributor turned senior counsel for the Justice Department's civil rights division, is a little-known figure behind the Trump administration's efforts to target 10 academic institutions across the country over allegations of anti-Semitism.
The group of 10 institutions also includes Harvard, which the Trump administration has apparently singled out by withdrawing billions of dollars in federal funds and attempting to revoke its ability to enroll foreign students.
Appointed in January by President Donald Trump to serve as senior advisor to Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, Terrell has since become an outspoken voice in the administration, chairing the department’s Task Force on Combating Antisemitism. The task force has led the charge against academic institutions that the administration alleges are enabling antisemitism.
Wednesday night's shooting has heightened the risks for Terrell, giving him what he sees as a mandate to intensify the crackdown on academic institutions.
Speaking to the Jewish News Syndicate on Thursday, Terrell said the Trump administration will “magnifie, multiply efforts” to stop anti-Semitism.
"I remember the question that a lot of people keep asking, 'Are we being too aggressive?'" Terrell said. "Here's an example where we're not being aggressive. Two young people lost their lives and we need to make sure we do everything we can to stop the hate."
In an interview with the Israeli network N12 on Thursday, Terrell said the task force will "intensify all of our activities."
"We will go after campus troublemakers and those here on student visas - goodbye. You are here by grace, if you create chaos, crime or discrimination against Jews, you will find yourself out. For universities, expect more withdrawal of federal funds or a ban on all federal funds. All of them!" said the task force chief.
Through a Justice Department spokesman, Terrell declined to comment. Before taking the job of leading the prosecution of some of the nation’s most important academic institutions, Terrell was a Fox News contributor. It’s a role he’s reprised frequently during his time in the administration, appearing on the network at least eight times since taking office, according to a tally by the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America. He will appear on Mark Levin’s Fox News show this Sunday.
Terrell, who had been a lifelong Democrat, made a dramatic U-turn in 2020 when he announced he planned to vote to re-elect Donald Trump for president. In the nearly five years that followed, Terrell established himself so successfully as a conservative voice that Trump appointed him to serve in his current role as a senior adviser to Dhillon.
“Leo is a highly respected civil rights lawyer and political analyst,” Trump said of him in January. “Leo will be a fantastic advocate for the American people and will ensure that we make America great again.”
In addition to his regular hits on cable television, Terrell is an avid user of the social media platform X, where his posts have gotten him into trouble several times.
Just a month after launching a task force to combat anti-Semitism, Terrell caused a stir when he retweeted a post by the former head of the now-defunct American Identity Group, Patrick Casey, who said that "Trump has the ability to revoke someone's Jewish card" after the president called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer "a Palestinian" and said "he's no longer Jewish."
Terrell made headlines last week after suggesting that former first lady Jill Biden should face criminal charges for "elder abuse," saying she was aware of her husband's health problems and chose to remain silent while he sought a second term in office.
“Elder Abuse! Criminal Charges??” Terrell wrote on X — a comment he reposted repeatedly.
Terrell's pledge this week to "intensify" his efforts comes at a time when the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, under his leadership, has taken aggressive action against universities across the country based on reports of anti-Semitism on their campuses during last year's student protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
In a move that sent shockwaves through the academic community, the task force last month announced it would block Harvard University from receiving $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in contracts after the university refused to submit to a series of demands set out by the administration.
Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said at the time that the demands, which included changes to the university's hiring, admissions and programming processes, violated the institution's constitutional rights. The university sued the administration over the funding cuts, launching a legal battle over the unprecedented move.
Last week, the administration informed Harvard that it would cut an additional $450 million in grants from eight federal agencies, as the battle between the school and the administration intensifies. And the administration also sought to revoke Harvard's right to enroll foreign students, something a federal judge blocked on Friday.
Harvard is not the only university facing the administration's wrath. Terrell's task force announced in February a list of 10 institutions it planned to investigate for alleged tolerance of anti-Semitism on their campuses. In addition to Harvard, the list includes: Columbia; George Washington; Johns Hopkins; New York University; Northwestern; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Minnesota; and the University of Southern California.
“The mandate of the Task Force is to use the full force of the federal government in our efforts to eradicate anti-Semitism, particularly in schools,” Terrell said when announcing the schools. /Adapted from Politico Pamphlet/
Lini një Përgjigje