<\/p>\n
Columbia University had<\/span> just resumed classes for the first time since a major crackdown on pro-Palestine demonstrations roiled campus throughout the first half of 2024.<\/p>\n Seeking to highlight ties between Columbia University and Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide in Gaza, <\/a>the campus protest movement had culminated in a building occupation<\/a> that ended<\/a> with dozens of arrests, sparking activism on campuses<\/a> across the country<\/a>. At Columbia, classes went virtual or used a hybrid model.<\/p>\n On the day classes resumed their regular scheduling in September, one protester splattered the university\u2019s famous Alma Mater statue in red paint.<\/p>\n Following the incident, New York Police Department investigators deployed an extensive array of high-tech surveillance and investigative tools to identify the alleged vandal, according to documents from the court case provided exclusively to The Intercept. Police leveraged networks of surveillance cameras and facial recognition software to pinpoint a suspect.<\/p>\n In July 2025, Jakhi Isaiah, a New Jersey-based activist whose legal last name is McCray, was charged for the incident.<\/p>\n As the nationwide protest movement against Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza became a national lightening rod and the Trump administration<\/a> began to throw its weight<\/a> against activists<\/a>, authorities at all levels began to expend tremendous resources against pro-Palestine demonstrators. Using intensive surveillance tools in response to relatively minor crimes became typical in cases against pro-Palestine protesters.<\/p>\n \u201cIt deliberately sends a very chilling message that you better not dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cI think it deliberately sends a very chilling message that you better not dissent,\u201d said Bina Ahmad, a civil rights and criminal defense attorney has represented pro-Palestine protesters but is not working on Isaiah\u2019s case. \u201cHow many [resources] they used for such a small charge kind of says they will go to any length to grab who they want to grab and charge what they want to charge.\u201d<\/p>\n The documents obtained by The Intercept also detail how NYPD investigators appeared to have abandoned the case, before being spurred to reopen it by federal officials. Both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the documents, were participating in a separate federal investigation into Isaiah.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Columbia claimed that the paint protest had caused thousands of dollars in damage to the statue, but maintenance crews were able to clean it up almost immediately. Photographs taken by students show that, by the end of the day, all the paint had had been removed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The hunt for the alleged vandal soon got underway.<\/p>\n In the days following the incident, NYPD detectives used 21 different camera angles and tracked the person that they allege is Isaiah as he moved both inside and out of Columbia\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you go around New York, there\u2019s fucking cameras literally everywhere,\u201d Isaiah told The Intercept. \u201cThat\u2019s freaky as hell.\u201d<\/p>\n Investigators claim to have followed Isaiah\u2019s movements using surveillance footage for more than two continuous hours surrounding the incident, tracking him even after he entered a university building and changed clothing. The person on video footage during the vandalism was masked and wore a hat. (Neither the NYPD nor Columbia responded to requests for comment.)<\/p>\n A camera eventually captured someone dressed in similar clothing with their mask removed while running down a nearby city street, according to the discovery documents. NYPD detectives then took the maskless image and used facial recognition tools to generate a hit on Isaiah.<\/p>\n Following the facial recognition ID, a probable cause to arrest notice was issued, meaning that officers Isaiah encountered would have discretion on whether or not to bring him into custody and charge him with the vandalism offenses.<\/p>\n Months later, Isaiah was arrested at an unrelated anti-ICE protest. Despite being in custody, he was not charged or arraigned on any offenses relating to the Columbia University incident, suggesting that the NYPD investigation against him had stalled.<\/p>\n Later, internal communications obtained by The Intercept revealed that while Columbia\u2019s public safety department eventually asked the NYPD to terminate the investigation, they reversed course less than a day later, citing a \u201cmiscommunication\u201d between university officials and the NYPD.<\/p>\n\n
Facial Recognition<\/strong><\/h2>\n