Police in riot gear raided Columbia University and arrested pro-Palestinian protesters after demonstrators occupied one of its buildings.
It comes after NY Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the demonstration at the Ivy League school “must end now” and claimed it had been infiltrated by “professional outside agitators.”
University bosses said they called the New York Police Department (NYPD) after protesters “decided to escalate the situation through their actions.”
“After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and locked, we were left with no choice,” the university said in a statement.
Police enter Hamilton Hall. Photo: Reuters
Police gather around Columbia University before intervening to break up the protest. Photo: Reuters
Police stand guard near a protest encampment on the grounds of Columbia University. Photo: Reuters
Arrested Columbia University protesters are put on a bus. Photo: Reuters
“The decision to approach the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they defend.
“We have made it clear that campus life cannot be endlessly disrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”
The protest began when students blocked the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the Manhattan campus on Tuesday and displayed a Palestinian flag through a window.
Video footage showed protesters linking arms in front of the hall and carrying furniture and metal barricades into the building.
A group called Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) said they had renamed the building “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajaba six-year-old girl killed in an attack in Gaza in February.
Protesters unfurled a flag with the words “Hind’s Hall.” Photo: Reuters
Protesters hang banners outside the Hamilton Hall building. Photo: Reuters
Protesters said they planned to remain in the hall until the university agreed to CUAD’s three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.
However, officers moved to the campus Tuesday night after university bosses wrote to New York City officials and the New York Police Department formally asking for help.
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A large group of officers dressed in riot gear entered the campus Tuesday night. Officers were also seen entering through the window of a university building via a police-marked tow truck.
Earlier, Mayor Adams urged protesters to leave. “Step away from this situation now and continue your defense by other means,” he said.
Columbia University also threatened academic explosions for students involved in the demonstration.
Protesters block the entrance to Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall. Photo: AP
Protesters block the entrance to Hamilton Hall. Photo: AP
Protests in Columbia earlier this month kicked off demonstrations that have spread to college campuses from California to Massachusetts.
Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah, Virginia and New Jersey.
Police moved to clear an encampment at Yale University in Connecticut on Tuesday morning, but there were no immediate reports of arrests.
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Meanwhile, the president of the University of Southern California issued a statement Tuesday after a swastika was drawn on campus.
“I condemn any anti-Semitic symbols or any form of hate speech against anyone,” Carol Folt said.
“It was clearly drawn there just to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community. We will work to get to the bottom of this immediately, and it has just been removed.”
Previously, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Joe Biden believed the student occupation of buildings was “absolutely the wrong approach” and “not an example of peaceful protest.”