New York lawyer appears to keep law license despite criminal charges in anti-Israel protests
James Carlson, a New York lawyer who took part in the anti-Israel encampment at Columbia University, will likely keep his law license in the state despite his alleged criminal activity, as reported by The Washington Free Beacon.
The Office of the Clerk of the Court for New York told the Free Beacon that Carlson 'is currently licensed and in good standing.'
James Carlson, a New York lawyer who took part in the anti-Israel encampment at Columbia University, will likely keep his law license in the state despite his alleged criminal activity at the demonstrations this spring.
Carlson illegally entered a Columbia building, stole and burned an Israeli flag, and destroyed police property during a protest, as noted by The Washington Free Beacon. Yet Carlson was only charged with a misdemeanor, and currently still has his law license.
The Office of the Clerk of the Court for New York told the Free Beacon that Carlson “is currently licensed and in good standing.”
Carlson, an animal rights lawyer and advocate, is one of the “professional outsiders” who, though not students at Columbia, nonetheless played a significant role in spurring on the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that occurred at the university’s Morningside Heights campus.
A police source said that Carlson is a “longtime anarchist” and has a significant criminal rap sheet dating back to 2005.
In 2022, Carlson reportedly wrote a letter to a federal judge in support of Hridindu Roychowdhury, a man who pleaded guilty to firebombing a pro-life group’s office. Carlson contended that Roychowdhury “sees the world with nuance and sophistication” and called him a “compassionate young person with tremendous potential.”
Campus Reform reported in June that Carlson allegedly snuck up behind a Columbia student and took two Israeli flags that the student was holding.
In April, Jewish students in the vicinity of the Columbia encampment were allegedly told to “go back to Europe” and “go back to Poland.” Others were told “you have no culture” and “all you do is colonize.”
In one instance, protesters yelled in Arabic “Oh Hamas, oh loved one, hit/strike Tel Aviv.”
“We are going to create a human chain . . . so that they do not pass this point and infringe upon our privacy and try to disrupt our community,” the demonstrators exclaimed in reference to Jewish students near the encampment. “We are going to slowly walk and take a step forward so that we can start to push them out of the camp.”
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
