NYPD officers arrest students as they evict a building blocked by pro-Palestinian student protesters at Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City.
Charlie Triballo | AFP | Getty Images
New York City police entered Columbia University’s campus late Tuesday to arrest and disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had occupied campus buildings nearly 24 hours earlier and had occupied a tent encampment at the Ivy League school for nearly two weeks. time.
Live television images showed helmeted police in tactical gear entering the elite upper Manhattan campus, which has been the focus of student protests that have spread to dozens of schools across the United States in recent days to express opposition to Israel’s presence in The war in Gaza.
“We’re clearing it,” police shouted as they walked toward the barricaded entrance to Hamilton Hall, an academic building that protesters broke into and took control of in the early hours of Tuesday.
A long line of police officers were seen climbing into the building through second-floor windows, using vehicles with ladders to gain access to the upper floors.
Dozens of other police officers swarmed a nearby protest camp, where students standing outside the campus looked on, chanting “Shame on you, shame on you!” Soon after, officers were seen leading handcuffed protesters to police cars outside the campus gates. superior.
Police loaded about 50 detainees onto a bus, each with his hands zip-tied behind his back, and the scene was illuminated by the flashing red and blue lights of police cars. Ambulances and other emergency service vehicles are on standby.
Protesters outside the building chanted “Free, free, free Palestine.” Others shouted “Let the students go.”
Earlier Tuesday, Columbia University officials threatened academic expulsion against students who occupied Hamilton Hall.
The occupation began overnight, with protesters breaking windows, rushing inside and unfurling banners that read “Hinder Hall,” symbolically renaming the building after a 6-year-old who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. Palestinian children.
Outside the eight-story neoclassical building — home to various student activities on campus dating back to the 1960s — protesters blocked the entrance with tables, held hands to form a barricade and chanted pro-Palestine slogan.
At an evening news conference hours before police entered Columbia, Mayor Eric Adams and city police officials said the Hamilton Hall takeover was instigated by “outside agitators” who had no ties to Columbia, Law enforcement has a reputation for instigating illegal behavior.
On April 30, 2024, New York City Police Department officers, heavily armed, broke into a building at Columbia University. Pro-Palestinian students were trapped in the building and set up an encampment.
Kena Betancur AFP | Getty Images
Police said their conclusion was based in part on escalating tactics during the occupation, including vandalism, using barricades to block entrances and damaging security cameras.
Adams said some student protesters were not fully aware that there were “outside actors” among them.
“We cannot and will not allow a supposedly peaceful rally to turn into a scene of purposeless violence. We cannot wait until the situation becomes more serious. This must end immediately,” the mayor said.
One of the student leaders of the protests, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian scholar studying at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs on a student visa, disputed claims that the occupation was launched.
“They are students,” he told Reuters.
A day earlier, the university said it had begun suspending students who violated a deadline to evacuate the protest camp, as school officials announced that days of negotiations with protest leaders aimed at dismantling the tents had stalled.
“Unrest on campus created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty, and the noise disruption disrupted teaching, learning and preparation for final exams,” the university said in a statement on Tuesday.
An attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza on October 7, and subsequent Israeli offensives on the Palestinian enclave, triggered the largest student demonstrations since the 2020 anti-racism protests.
Many of the demonstrations have been met with opposition from counter-protesters who accuse them of fomenting anti-Semitic hatred. The pro-Palestinian side, including Jews who oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, say they are unfairly labeled anti-Semitic for criticizing the Israeli government and expressing support for human rights.
In responding to the protests, university officials have been trying to strike a balance between allowing free speech and stamping out hate speech.
The issue has taken on political overtones in the run-up to the November U.S. presidential election, with Republicans accusing some university administrators of turning a blind eye to anti-Semitic rhetoric and harassment.
White House spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday condemned non-peaceful forms of student protests, calling the occupation of campus buildings “the wrong thing to do.”
NYPD officials stressed ahead of Tuesday night’s sweep that officers would not enter campus unless Columbia administrators invited them on campus, as they did on April 18 when the NYPD dismantled a previous encampment. More than 100 people were arrested, sparking outcry from many students and staff.
Dozens of tents pitched on the hedge-lined meadow — next to a smaller lawn that has since been planted with hundreds of small Israeli flags — were erected a few days later and remain on campus until Tuesday.
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