The City University of New York's (CUNY) public law school's commencement featured a speech from a graduating student calling for a "revolution" to challenge "oppressive" institutions in America. The speaker mentioned institutions of law and order such as the military, the police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. prison system.
"I come to you all from the rich soil of Yemen, raised by the humble streets of Queens," said future lawyer Fatima Mousa Mohammed, who was selected by the 2023 class to speak at the May 12 CUNY Law ceremony. At first, the law school took down the speech on YouTube– but then released it following public outcry as critics derided them for silencing a pro-Palestinian voice.
"I chose CUNY School of Law for its articulated mission [as one of the] few legal institutions… to recognize that the law is a manifestation of White supremacy that continues to oppress and suppress people in this nation and around the world."
"No one person will save the world. No single movement will liberate the masses. Those who brought the ferocity of the violence, those who carry the revolution, the people, the masses, those who brought the ferocity of the violence, those who need our protection. They will carry this revolution."
She added that a revolution was ongoing, but was not widely known.
"The revolution that lives so loudly despite not being televised. No longer are we going to capitulate to oppressors. No longer are we going to put our hope in their depraved consciousness."
Mohammed called for "liberation" in light of "the murder of Black men like Jordan Neely by a White man on the MTA," claiming it was "dignified by politicians."
The speaker then called for the graduating class to dismantle capitalism. "The joy and excitement that fills the auditorium... may it be the fuel for the fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism and Zionism around the world."
"Systems of oppression created to feed an empire with a ravenous appetite for destruction and violence. Institutions [are] created to intimidate, bully and censor and stifle the voices of those who resist," she said.
During the speech, Mohammed spoke out against the perceived injustice of the "Palestinian political prisoners like HLF in U.S. prisons."
HLF, or the Holy Land Foundation, was a Texas-based charity that "existed to support Hamas," a designated terror group by the U.S. State Department, according to the DOJ.
The Department of Justice convicted the defendants on material support of terrorism in 2009 after it found that "HLF intentionally hid its financial support for Hamas behind the guise of charitable donations" and "provided approximately $12.4 million in support to Hamas and its goal of creating an Islamic Palestinian state by eliminating the State of Israel through violent jihad."
CUNY Law released a statement to Fox News Digital, which said, "[S]tudent speakers… offered congratulatory remarks and their own individual perspectives on advocating for social justice. As with all such commencement remarks, they reflect the voices of those individuals."
The future lawyer proceeded to rip American institutions such as jails for purportedly murdering Black and brown prisoners daily. She then derided agencies of law and order –calling the military and the New York City Police Department "fascist."
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Mohammed said, "So one client at a time, one case at a time… We will show up for our communities."
"We will show up for ourselves, and we will protect the fight that brings us all closer to the fall of all oppressive institutions, a reality that is only myopic and unrealistic to the oppressors, but is the inevitable future for the oppressed, for oppressed people everywhere."
"For greater empires of destruction have fallen before. And so will these. So to the class of 2023, the fight begins now," she said.
Mohammed did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
