Police arrested a Columbia University student after he allegedly threw an unlit Molotov cocktail from his dorm room on Monday night.
“Javen Jovero, a 22-year-old senior at the Ivy League college, sparked a panic when he filled a plastic bottle with rubbing alcohol and a sock and hurled it from a dormitory on the school’s East Campus,” the New York Post reported.
Thankfully, no one was injured from the makeshift bomb, but police did receive multiple 911 calls from fearful students around 8:30 p.m.
Jovero — an economics major and a member of Columbia’s wrestling team — was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, the police said.
The Southern California native can be seen in this picture from the 2020 state high school championships.
Congratulations to the CIF State Boys Wrestling 182 Weight Class Placers 🏅
1st Place – Nathan Haas of St. John Bosco
2nd Place – Joe Curtis of La Costa Canyon
3rd Place – Javen Jovero of Rancho Bernardo#CIFWrestling2020 pic.twitter.com/bPDQ0egB2p— CIF State (@CIFState) March 1, 2020
Jovero was later charged with possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.
A Columbia University spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement, “An incident took place yesterday morning on East Campus in which an object was dropped from the window of a Columbia property into the bushes below.”
If the alleged act isn’t found to have been anti-Semitic, should the student still face jail time?
“Public Safety and the NYPD responded immediately to the incident and apprehended an individual believed to be involved. This was an isolated incident with no other individuals involved. A full investigation is underway, and the University’s rules and policies will be applied and enforced,” the school added.
The Post reported that police have not linked Jovero’s conduct to the pro-Palestinian turmoil that has been taking place on campus since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
Columbia administrators have allowed chaos to pretty much go unchecked, so even though we don’t know his motives yet, it’s not surprising Jovero may have reasoned that throwing an unlit Molotov cocktail was no big deal.
The Trump administration recently canceled $400 million in grants and contracts because of the school’s failure to quell anti-Semitism on campus.
The most recent controversy at Columbia regards Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s arrest of pro-Palestinian protest organizer Mahmoud Khalil in early March.
The school should have kicked him off campus long ago.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X following his detention by ICE, “We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported https://t.co/oKba2Mmi3C
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 9, 2025
He said more broadly on the subject of foreign student protestors late last month, “We gave you a visa to study and earn a degree—not to become a social activist tearing up our campuses. If you use your visa to do that, we’ll take it away.”
WATCH 🔴
Marco Rubio on Rumeysa Ozturk, the Turkish student who was detained:
“We revoked her visa. It’s an F-1 visa, I believe. We revoked it, and here’s why—I’ve said it everywhere, and I’ll say it again.
Let me be abundantly clear: If you apply for a student visa to come to… pic.twitter.com/ysnncquYue
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 27, 2025
Last spring, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, traveled to Columbia University with other members of Congress to meet with Jewish students who had been terrorized on their own campus.
“The cherished traditions of this university are being overtaken by radical and extreme ideologies. They place a target on the backs of Jewish students in the United States and here on this campus,” he said.
Johnson recounted that the protesters have chanted in support of terrorists and “chased down Jewish students,” mocking them and shouting racial epithets at those wearing Stars of David.
Thankfully, Jovero’s Molotov cocktail was not lit, but his conduct is yet another example of the chaotic climate Columbia has allowed.
Hopefully, the school’s leadership will learn their lesson soon and restore order to the storied institution.
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