Reuters was able to verify the location of footage from buildings and road layout seen on file images, as well as metadata from the original video. The date was verified through the original file metadata and the university announcement of the event.

Trump, a Republican, has called the pro-Palestinian student protests across college campuses last year antisemitic and anti-American. Student protesters at Columbia, Jewish organizers among them, say the government is unfairly conflating pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism.