Mayor Michelle Wu, only a week after what her obsequious supporters hailed as a virtuoso efficiency earlier than a hostile congressional oversight panel, finds herself all of a sudden underneath a harsh federal microscope.
Wu is one in every of 4 large metropolis mayors to be notified by the Justice Division of an impending go to by President Trump’s Federal Process Drive to Fight Antisemitism to grill her in regards to the metropolis’s alleged failure to guard Jewish college students from illegal discrimination.
It’s the second time within the final two weeks Wu, one of the crucial seen progressive mayors within the nation, has been focused by the Trump administration and it’s no coincidence.
It’s a impolite awakening for Wu, hailed for defending the town’s Sanctuary Metropolis coverage on the congressional oversight committee and using excessive within the polls.
The Justice Division and Republican lawmakers clearly have it out for Wu in the midst of her re-election marketing campaign.
Wu’s robust persona and dictatorial model have caught the eye of President Donald Trump, border czar Tom Homan and Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi.
“Too many elected officers selected to not stand as much as a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific occasions of October 7, 2023,” Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi mentioned in a press release saying the go to to Boston and three different cities by the federal antisemitism panel. “Actions have penalties — inaction does too.”
Senior Counsel to the Assistant Legal professional Basic for Civil Rights Leo Terrell, a number one member of the duty drive, mentioned he intends to fulfill with metropolis management, impacted college students, native regulation enforcement, and neighborhood members in Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, “because it gathers data” in regards to the alleged incidents and “considers whether or not federal intervention is warranted.”
By no means thoughts that Wu ordered Boston Police to arrest 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who have been encamped at Emerson Faculty on Boylston Place Alley final 12 months.
She was truly closely criticized for the police’s actions by civil liberties teams, some metropolis councilors and pupil demonstrators who claimed they have been injured by zip ties.
However Boston and Massachusetts have been the facilities of various pro-Hamas demonstrations the place Jewish college students mentioned they felt intimidated and harassed.
Throughout the peak of the demonstrations, Wu mentioned comparatively little to point robust help for Israel – expressing help for each Jews and Palestinians. Higher Boston is dwelling to the fourth largest Jewish neighborhood in america.
“Boston goes to be a spot the place everyone seems to be protected and all our views and views have the area to be in dialog with none tolerance for threats or intimidation,” she mentioned because the Israel-Hamas struggle began.
However she is clearly altering her tune now that the feds have her of their sights.
“Boston has one of the crucial vibrant Jewish communities in America, a supply of pleasure and energy for our Metropolis and our area, and we stand firmly towards antisemitism,” a Wu spokesperson mentioned.
The conferences with Wu and the three different mayors from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have been initiated by the DOJ quickly after the U.S. Division of Schooling warned 60 schools and universities from throughout the nation of potential enforcement actions if they don’t shield Jewish college students on their campuses.
The Division of Schooling letter was despatched to Boston College, Emerson Faculty, Harvard College, Tufts College, UMass Amherst and Wellesley Faculty, in addition to Middlebury Faculty in Vermont, Brown College and Yale College.
