After anti-Israel demonstrators barricaded themselves in Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, New York police raided the building overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday and began to evacuate the protesters, arresting some of them.
About three hours later, the university informed the faculty and students that "The campus is being evacuated of protesters."
Police enter Columbia University campus building occupied by anti-Israel protesters
Dozens of protesters were arrested and, according to reports, one of the students lost consciousness at the scene during the police raid. The police used four stun grenades during the arrests, and they claim some of the protesters tried to prevent police from entering the campus.
In police footage from the building, cops can be seen raiding the building through the windows of the second floor.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out overnight between police officers and protesters on the nearby campus of City College of New York (CUNY), and dozens were arrested there as well. In total, more than 100 students were arrested on both campuses, most of them at Columbia.
Columbia University said in a statement that New York police forces arrived on campus at the university's request in order to restore security and order to the campus.
6 View gallery
Police arrest anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University's Hamilton Hall
(Photo: Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
6 View gallery
Protesters are removed from Columbia University's campus
(Photo: Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
“After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” the school said. “The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”
The university statement also noted that the group that broke into and fortified the building is led by people who are not connected to the campus. The university stated that it contacted the police because "it is impossible to allow protesters who violate the law to disrupt the conduct of the campus on a regular basis."
"The protesters chose to escalate to an alarming and intolerable situation - while vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows and blocking entrances and we are responding appropriately, as we made clear a long time ago," the statement said. "The safety of our community, especially our students, remains our top priority."
6 View gallery
New York police officers clear protesters from Hamilton Hall on Columbia University's campus
(Photo: Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
6 View gallery
Protesters surround Hamilton Hall at Columbia University
(Photo: Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
Columbia President Minouche Shafik appealed to the New York police and requested that forces remain on campus until May 17 in light of the recent events.
Before the raid on the building, large police forces were deployed in the university campus area. The university called to avoid coming to the area, adding that all those staying there should "take shelter for your personal safety due to increased activity on campus. Failure to comply may lead to disciplinary proceedings."
The barricading in the building began Tuesday after the university announced that the students who set up the protest camp would be suspended. The protesters, including masked ones with hoods, broke down the front door, smashed its windows, and barricaded themselves in the seven-story building using tables and trash cans, while outside about 1,000 students surrounded the building and blocked the doors.
6 View gallery
Protesters vandalize Hamilton Hall at Columbia University
(Photo: Alex Kent / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
The protesters stated that they would remain in the building until all their demands of the university were met: disinvestment from Israel, financial transparency and amnesty for protesters. The protesters called "for the press and the public to hold Columbia accountable for any disproportionate response to the actions of the students today. To the administrators and trustees of Columbia: do not bring soldiers and police with weapons to our campus. The blood of the students will be on your hands."
Columbia University announced Tuesday that the students who took over Hamilton Hall now face expulsion from the New York academic institution.
"We made it very clear yesterday that the work of the University cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules. Continuing to do so will be met with clear consequences," the school said in a statement. "Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation - vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances - and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday."
Among other things, the university announced the suspension of Mahmoud Khalil, the director of negotiations on behalf of the protesting students. Khalil, for his part, stated that he does not represent the student group that occupied Hamilton Hall, which is an "autonomous subgroup," and that he still does not know what its demands are since it has not conveyed them to the larger protest coalition.
Agreements with protesters at other universities
Meanwhile, protesters at Northwestern University in Illinois agreed to voluntarily evacuate after reaching an agreement with the administration. This is the first settlement since the beginning of the current wave of protests on campuses and, as part of the compromise, the students will be represented on an advisory committee that will be established specifically to oversee the institution's investments.
In addition, the university has committed to award scholarships to Palestinian students and building a center for Muslim students on campus. Leaders of protests on other campuses criticized the agreement, claiming that it jeopardized the protest before achieving the goal of divesting from Israel. The protesters from Northwestern replied that they hoped the agreement would help other campuses in their negotiations.
Brown University also reached an agreement with protesters, under which in exchange for the removal of the protest tent on campus, the university will agree to discuss and vote on divestment from Israel. This is the first time in the current protest wave that a university has agreed to this type of move.
Against the backdrop of the anti-Israel demonstrations raging on campuses throughout New York City, Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of a new curriculum on hate crimes, which will be taught to all sixth through twelfth-grade students in the city's public schools. According to Adams, "the purpose of the program is to teach the students about the effects of hate crimes, which are directed against religion, culture, gender, sexual orientation or any other difference."
6 View gallery
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, protesters removed the U.S. flag and replaced it with the Palestinian flag
The mayor added: "The children are at a breaking point and investing in a program that fosters understanding, diversity and inclusion is the way to deal with the many rivers that feed the sea of hatred that is currently washing over the city."
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, protesters removed the U.S. flag and replaced it with the Palestinian flag. This happened after dozens were arrested for refusing to leave the protest camp set up last weekend on campus after the university gave them an ultimatum: "Evacuate or risk arrest, suspension or deportation."
Several hundred students broke through the barriers that kept them away from the encampment, shouted "free Palestine" and called on the university to shun investments related to Israel. "We have removed the American flag from the center of Polk Place and replaced it with a Palestinian flag," they announced.
As police and university staff repositioned the U.S. flag, protesters threw water bottles at them. Jewish students were also recorded shielding the flag with their bodies, while the protesters taunted them and threw bottles at them as well.