The family of a couple killed in a crash involving an arrested pro-Palestine protester at Columbia University is outraged that he is free to walk around campus and not be in jail.
Isabel Jennifer Seward, 20, was one of more than 100 protesters who were arrested for protesting when university president Minouche Shafik testified before Congress about anti-Semitism on campus.
She is the daughter of top UPS executive William J. Seward and when she was arrested Thursday, she listed her address as a $2.2 million mansion near Atlanta, it reported. The New York Post.
On September 8, 2020, Seward was involved in a car accident that killed elderly Vermont couple Chet and Connie Hawkins.
‘The only reason she wasn’t charged with murder is because she has a rich father. She should be behind bars,” the couple’s niece, Eve Taylor, told the Post.
Isabel Jennifer Seward (pictured), 20, is the daughter of top UPS executive William J. Seward and was arrested for protesting at Columbia University on Thursday.
Chet Hawkins (pictured), 73, died in a car crash in September 2020 involving Isabel Jennifer Seward, one of more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Columbia University.
Connie Hawkins (pictured), 72, was driving with her husband when Seward’s truck crossed the double line and crashed into them.
‘She has no remorse, she received no punishment. She’s just hanging around Columbia with her Ivy League privilege.
“After basically getting away with it, he now promotes murder, without understanding what he is promoting. She’s outrageous that she wasn’t kicked off campus,” Taylor said.
According to Vermont State Police, the Hawkins were driving on Route 7 in Charlotte when Seward, then 16 years old, crossed the center line and crashed their car head-on.
Connie, 72, died at the scene and Chet, 73, died five hours after the accident at UVM Medical Center Hospital, reported Rutland Herald.
Seward allegedly told at least three conflicting stories about his cell phone before and after the accident.
The preliminary crash report said the speed limit in the crash area is 50 mph and Seward said he was driving 56 mph.
Police also said they have video of the crash that shows Seward’s Toyota Tacoma making a sudden 45-degree turn and striking the Hawkins.
‘The footage clearly shows that vehicle #1 leaves its lane of travel and continues traveling (sic) north in the southbound lane of US Route 7, before colliding head-on with the vehicle No. 2. There did not appear to be any attempt by vehicle number 1 to correct its course prior to the accident,” Trooper Nate Quealy said in the preliminary accident report.
Seward was never charged in their deaths and was fined $220 after pleading no contest to a civil traffic ticket for an offense listed as “driving on roads with traffic lanes.”
The Rutland Herald reported that records show her mother paid the fine for her.
‘His truck went over the hood of his car and crushed my uncles. “I want her to be charged with murder,” Taylor said.
Four years later, Seward was arrested while wandering the Columbia campus and participating in pro-Palestine protests. It is unclear whether he is a student at the Ivy League or at its sister university, Barnard.
More than 100 protesters have been arrested, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com, with many of them spouting hateful rhetoric claiming to be Hamas and shouting ‘intifada’ at Jewish students.
Among those arrested for protesting in Columbia is Isra Hirsi, daughter of ‘Squad’ congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
Tensions had been at a boiling point since protesters pitched tents on the university’s south lawn at 4 a.m. Wednesday, and several fights broke out when they were met by pro-Israel counterprotesters.
For the fifth day, pro-Palestinian students occupied a central lawn on the Columbia University campus.
The White House has joined a chorus of people from across the political spectrum in criticizing pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University for anti-Semitic rhetoric at campus demonstrations.
Seward was never charged for the accident and only had to pay a $220 fine, which records show her mother paid.
More than 100 students were detained by police and suspended by the university for demonstrating against the war in Gaza
Protesting when university president Minouche Shafik testified before Congress about anti-Semitism on campus.
“While every American has the right to peacefully protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation against Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly anti-Semitic, unconscionable, and dangerous; they have absolutely no place on any college campus or anywhere in USA”. United States of America,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates.
The statement comes hours after a Columbia University rabbi warned Jewish students not to return to campus due to “extreme anti-Semitism” amid a multi-day protest in support of Palestine.
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams also attacked the protesters in a post on X, criticizing them and the Ivy League university over reports of anti-Semitism.
“I am horrified and disgusted by the anti-Semitism that is spreading on and around the Columbia University campus,” he wrote.
“Hate has no place in our city, and I have instructed the NYPD to investigate any violation of the law they receive a report about and will arrest anyone who breaks the law.”