Anti-Israel Columbia protester who ‘killed’ VT couple in crash belongs in prison, not college: victims’ family
A wealthy young woman who avoided prison time for a deadly 2020 crash that killed a Vermont couple was among 114 anti-Israel agitators arrested at Columbia University last week – enraging the victims’ family.
Protests have been rocking the campus in recent days as anti-Israel sympathizers demand the Israeli military stop fighting back after Hamas terrorists launched an attack on the country in October.
Things have gotten so bad that a campus rabbi is urging Jewish students to leave amid concerns for their safety.
NYPD officers patrol as pro-Palestine protestors demonstrate outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
One of the protesters is Isabel Jennifer Seward, now 20, the New York Post revealed, citing arrest records. She was 16 when she allegedly drove over the double yellow lines and plowed into Chet and Connie Hawkins, 73 and 72. Police reports allege she made no effort to avoid the crash.
“She has no remorse, she received no punishment. She’s just prancing around Columbia with her Ivy League privilege,” the couple’s 49-year-old niece, Eve Taylor, told the Post Sunday. “After basically getting away with murder, she’s now promoting murder, with no understanding of what she’s promoting.”
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Seward’s father is UPS executive Bill Seward, according to Taylor, who claimed her father’s wealth got her out of criminal charges. The Sewards could not immediately be reached for comment.
“She should be behind bars,” Taylor told the paper.
NYPD officers patrol as pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate outside of Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
The Rutland Herald, a Vermont newspaper, reported in January 2021 that Seward received only a $220 fine as punishment for the deadly collision, even though she allegedly gave police conflicting information and may have been texting before impact and another driver recorded the crash on video.
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Taylor is calling on Vermont State Police to reopen the investigation into her aunt and uncle’s deaths.
A state police spokesman directed questions about the 2020 case to the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Pro-Palestine students demonstrate on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
State Attorney Sarah George’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
George, described by local media as a progressive Democrat, is currently named in an unrelated Change.org petition calling for her resignation over her “personal ideology.”
Seward was 16 at the time of the crash, and juvenile matters are typically confidential in the state. But some details emerged publicly as the case played out.
Pro-Palestine students demonstrate on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the campus’ lawn. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
The Herald reported Seward’s name was originally redacted in public records related to the deadly crash – only for state police to reveal it in a press release, exposing a dispute between law enforcement and the progressive prosecutor’s office.
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“Unbelievable — why on earth would VSP not have contacted their freakin general counsel BEFORE releasing the name!??!” George wrote to one of her staffers in an email obtained by the paper.
Also arrested during the Columbia protests was Isra Hirsi, the daughter of “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota.
