The New York University law student leader who lost a prestigious job offer after sending an incendiary pro-Hamas message — and now faces removal as the president of the school’s Student Bar Association — was caught on camera in New York City obscuring posters of hostages in the Israel-Hamas war.
Ryna Workman, who wrote that Israel bears “full responsibility” for the bloodshed in the bar association newsletter, was spotted covering up hostage posters Tuesday — just after defending their incendiary rhetoric in an interview with ABC News.
Workman, who identifies as non-binary and uses they and them pronouns, said speaking out was a matter of standing up for “Palestinian human rights,” and declined to answer a question about having empathy for murdered Israelis.
“I will continue to use my voice to uplift the voices of Palestinians and the struggles they’re going through,” Workman said.
“I think whether or not my empathy goes to Israelis or to Palestinians is really not the question here. What the question is, is will we call for an end to this genocide and will we call for a cease fire?”
The same night Workman staunchly stood behind their words despite the backlash, they were recorded covering up posters of missing Israeli children and adults.
The video shared on X, notes that Workman “couldn’t even change” their outfit following their ABC appearance before covering up the hostage posters pasted to construction scaffolding in what appears to be Manhattan.
The footage shows Workman and a friend covering the posters with their own sign advertising a “National Student Walkout” to demand a free Palestine.
Workman does not engage with the person behind the camera, who asks the two defacers “Do you guys wanna state your name? At least say your name. If you’re going to do it, do it with pride.”
While Workman remains quiet, their friend does not share their name but replies, “I’m very proud, I just don’t want to talk to you.”
Workman’s newsletter was quickly met with backlash, including by members of the Student Bar Association who claimed they did not “write, approve, or see” the message before it was sent out and that Workman did not speak for them.
The SBA board moved to remove Workman as president, a process that will require a couple of hearings, according to the statement, which claimed students were being doxxed, harassed, and threatened with death after the posting was made.
Workman’s newsletter also cost them a cushy job at Chicago’s Winston & Strawn firm, which rescinded its offer just hours after the newsletter was published.
The law school also released a statement that sought to make “several things abundantly clear on behalf of the NYU Law Board of Trustees and our Law School as a whole.”
“NYU Law unequivocally condemns the recent terrorist acts and the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas in Israel. The murder and kidnapping of civilians, and the use of sexual violence and the separation and torture of children, are all abominable and atrocious,” the statement said.
“We want to say, loud and clear, to our community: Any statement that does not recognize this brutality does not reflect the values of NYU Law,” it added.
In their first interview with The Intercept, Workman expressed concern over the backlash, saying it will allow “a chilling effect that allows for this unbalanced and dangerous media narrative to continue in which violence against Palestinian civilians is normalized.”
On Wednesday afternoon, some 300 NYU students walked out of class for a pro-Palestine rally in Washington Square Park, which was countered by several dozen pro-Israel demonstrators.
A group of public high school students also attended, brandishing signs depicting the Israeli flag in a garbage can that read “Please Keep the World Clean.”