Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar strongly reacts to daughter's suspension for protests at Columbia University

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (DFL) is speaking about her daughter's college suspension for the first time.

Omar’s 21-year-old daughter Isra Hirsi was arrested and suspended from Barnard College last week for taking part in a pro-Palestine demonstration at Columbia University in New York City.

Omar says her daughter is just part of a young generation stepping up against injustice.

"We are now seeing young people stepping up to say no more to sending our dollars to killing children," says Omar. "And I think it is really admirable that they are risking a lot in order to, you know, create that advocacy that says if we're paying our universities money, we want to know where that money is going."

Barnard College defends its decision to suspend Hirsi and other students. Hirsi was one of more than a hundred protesters arrested mid-demonstration last Thursday.

Omar says she finds it honorable her daughter and other young people are willing to give up so much for their cause.

"It's part of a young generation of people who have been in the forefront of stepping up when they see things that they can't tolerate," Omar said."

In a post on X Hirsi said she and others "won't be intimidated" and will continue to make their voices heard.

Columbia University’s main campus will switch to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester amid protests over Israel’s war with Hamas that have roiled colleges across the U.S., officials announced.

“Safety is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning and all the required academic operations,” the Ivy League university’s provost, Angela V. Olinto, and chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, said in a statement late Monday.

The move came after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia’s upper Manhattan campus were arrested last week.

Students have protested Israel’s war in Gaza at many campuses in recent weeks, including at New York University a few miles south of Columbia, where an encampment swelled to hundreds of protesters and police began to make arrests Monday night.

A police spokesperson said he did not know how many NYU protesters had been arrested. University spokesperson John Beckman said NYU was carrying on with classes Tuesday.

Since the war began, colleges and universities nationwide have struggled to balance safety with free speech rights. Many schools long tolerated protests but are now doling out more heavy-handed discipline.