Students protest against Tommy Robinson outside Lerner on October 10.

Nineteen Columbia students have collectively released a statement of defense to Columbia administrators, who are currently disciplining the students for their protests of white nationalist Tommy Robinson speaking at a CUCR-sponsored event.

Sixteen of the 19 students are still undergoing investigation for their alleged misconduct, and are, according to one member, currently stuck in a “disciplinary purgatory.” Furthermore, before the students’ meetings with administration, Provost John Coatsworth had banned them from attending future CUCR events.

Citing video footage, the students also point out that they had engaged in discussion respectfully during the event, and that the CUCR representatives had in fact allowed them to stand in the front of the room. The statement alludes to multiple sections of the Rules of University Conduct, in order to both clear their actions and to label CUCR’s actions as a “genuine threat of harassment.”

The students plan to defy the ban and protest the CUCR-sponsored Mike Cernovich speech tomorrow.

The full statement is included below: