Israel-Hamas War

Police in riot gear enter Columbia University to clear out Pro-Palestinian protesters

More than 1,000 protesters have been arrested on campuses in states including Texas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut and New Jersey in recent days

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New York police officers arrived at Columbia University shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday night to clear protesters barricaded inside Hamilton Hall.

Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.

The scene unfolded shortly after 9 p.m. as police, wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and riot shields, massed at the Ivy League university's entrance. The demonstrators had occupied Hamilton Hall, an administration building on campus, more than 12 hours earlier, spreading their reach from an encampment elsewhere on the grounds that's been there for nearly two weeks.

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Shortly before officers entered the campus, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia authorizing officers to take action, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Columbia's protests earlier this month kicked off demonstrations that now span from California to Massachusetts. As May commencement ceremonies near, administrators face added pressure to clear protesters.

More than 1,000 protesters have been arrested over the last two weeks on campuses in states including Texas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut, Louisiana, California and New Jersey, some after violent clashes with police in riot gear.

“Walk away from this situation now and continue your advocacy through other means,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams advised the Columbia protesters on Tuesday afternoon. “This must end now.”

The White House earlier Tuesday condemned the standoffs at Columbia and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where protesters had occupied two buildings until officers with batons intervened overnight and arrested 25 people. Officials estimated the northern California campus' total damage to be upwards of $1 million.

President Joe Biden believes students occupying an academic building is “absolutely the wrong approach,” and “not an example of peaceful protest,” said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

Demonstrators supporting Palestinians in Gaza barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building which has been occupied in past student movements, on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched as a 2 p.m. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university came and went. The students were given a suspension warning if they did not meet the deadline. Students at Columbia were the first from an elite college to erect an encampment, demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, in which more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip.

Other colleges have sought to negotiate agreements with the demonstrators in the hopes of having peaceful commencement ceremonies. As cease-fire negotiations appeared to gain steam, it wasn’t clear whether those talks would inspire an easing of protests.

Northwestern University notched a rare win when officials said they reached a compromise with students and faculty who represent the majority of protesters on its campus near Chicago to allow peaceful demonstrations through the end of spring classes.

The nationwide campus protests began at Columbia in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

On Columbia's campus, protesters locked arms early Tuesday and carried furniture and metal barricades to Hamilton Hall, among several buildings that were occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest. Demonstrators called the building Hind’s Hall, honoring a young girl who was killed in Gaza under Israeli fire.

The takeover came hours after protesters had shrugged off an earlier ultimatum to abandon a tent encampment Monday or be suspended — restricted from all academic and recreational spaces, allowed only to enter their residences, and, for seniors, ineligible to graduate.

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Police officers clash with pro-Palestinian protesters as a fire extinguisher is deployed at UCLA early morning on Thursday, May 2, 2024.
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A counter-protester throws a fence at pro-Palestinian protesters next to their encampment on the UCLA campus on May 1, 2024.
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Counter-protesters attack a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the UCLA campus on May 1, 2024.
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NYPD officers in riot gear break into a building at Columbia University, where pro-Palestinian students are barricaded inside, on April 30, 2024 in New York.
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Pro-Palestinian supporters climb a fence during demonstrations at The City College Of New York on April 30, 2024 in New York City.
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Columbia University pro-Palestine demonstrators barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building that has been occupied in past student movements, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The banner reads the name of a Palestinian child allegedly killed by the Israeli military.
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Hundreds of students gather at San Francisco State University to protest Israeli attacks on Gaza, on April 29, 2024 in Stanford, Calif.
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A man holds up a Palestinian flag as activists and students chant at George Washington University on Monday, April 29, 2024 in Washington, D.C.
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Pro-Israeli protestors on the UCLA campus on Sunday, April 28, 2024 in Los Angeles.
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Tension rises between City College of New York students and police as the students protest against the Israel-Hamas war on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
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A woman holds a Jewish Students for Palestine placard at a pro-Palestinian rally on the Penn State University campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
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Students gather at Northeastern University in Boston to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza, on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
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A pro-Palestinian demonstrator and a pro-Israeli demonstrator clash on the UCLA campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
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Supporters of an Israel protest on the University of Texas campus in Austin, on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
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Pro-Palestinian students chant during a protest at Emory University on April 25, 2024, in Atlanta, Ga.
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Indiana State Police arrest dozens of people during a pro-Palestinian protest on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Ind. on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
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A pro-Israeli protest near Columbia University students participating in a pro-Palestinian encampment on their campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024 in New York.
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A person is detained by police as pro-Palestinian students protest the Israel-Hamas war on the University of Texas campus in Austin, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
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Students protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza as they set up an encampment on the grounds of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
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Rawda Ghalban, a junior, uses a megaphone to chant with fellow pro-Palestine supporters during a rally against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minn.
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NYPD officers clear away tents from an encampment set up by pro-Palestinian students and protesters on the NYU campus on Monday, April 22, 2024.
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Pro-Palestinian students and activists face police officers as they protest the Israel-Hamas war on the NYU campus on Monday, April 22, 2024.

Mahmoud Khalil, a lead negotiator before talks with the administration broke down over the weekend, was among the suspended students. His suspension letter — which he shared with The Associated Press — said he had refused to leave the encampment after prior warnings, but Khalil said he had abided by the university’s demand to vacate the encampment on the campus lawn by the Monday afternoon deadline.

Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said in a statement that anyone occupying Hamilton Hall risked being expelled from the university for escalating the protest “to an untenable situation — vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances.”

Occupying protesters have insisted they will remain in Hamilton Hall until the university agrees to three demands — divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.

Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said in a statement that anyone occupying Hamilton Hall risked being expelled from the university for escalating the protest “to an untenable situation — vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances.”

Students had defiantly set up tents again after police cleared an encampment at the university on April 18 and arrested more than 100 people. The students had been protesting on the Manhattan campus since the previous day, opposing Israeli military action in Gaza and demanding the school divest from companies they claim are profiting from the conflict.

The Columbia University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors said faculty’s efforts to help defuse the situation have been repeatedly ignored by the university’s administration despite school statutes that require consultation. The group warned of potential conflict between police officers nearby and protesters on campus.

“We hold University leadership responsible for the disastrous lapses of judgment that have gotten us to this point,” the chapter said in a statement late Tuesday. “The University President, her senior staff, and the Board of Trustees will bear responsibility for any injuries that may occur during any police action on our campus.”

Ilana Lewkovitch, a self-described “leftist Zionist” student at Columbia, said it’s been hard to concentrate on school for weeks, amid calls for Zionists to die or leave campus. Her exams have been punctuated with chants of “say it loud, say it clear, we want Zionists out of here” in the background, she said.

Lewkovitch, who identifies as Jewish and studied at Columbia’s Tel Aviv campus, said she wished the current pro-Palestinian protests were more open to people like her who criticize Israel’s war policies but believe there should be an Israeli state.

Adams claimed Tuesday that the Columbia protests have been “co-opted by professional outside agitators.” The mayor didn’t provide specific evidence to back up that contention, which was disputed by protest organizers and participants.

NYPD officials made similar claims about “outside agitators” during the huge, grassroots demonstrations against racial injustice that erupted across the city after the death of George Floyd in 2020. In some instances, top police officials falsely labeled peaceful marches organized by well-known neighborhood activists as the work of violent extremists.

Copyright The Associated Press
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