Akm Shehabuddin Kisslu: New York Police entered Hamilton hall to end the student-led occupation of the building late Tuesday and arrested more than hundred protesters. The NYPD officers in riot gear marched onto Columbia university campus, where pro-Palestinian students are barricaded inside a building and have set up an encampment. The tensions are one snapshot of protests erupting at college campuses across the US. the students are calling for universities to sell off their investments in companies that have businesses or investments in Israel because of the country’s invasion of gaza.
Dozens of NYPD officers were seen in riot gear and carrying zip tie handcuffs blocked off sections of broadway near the Columbia morningside campus before entering Hamilton hall.
Hours later, New York City police carrying riot shields storm the building and clear dozens of people from it, sweeping the encampment on the campus as well. The action from city police came at the request of the university, according to a police statement.
Columbia demonstrators early Tuesday took to occupying Hamilton Hall, an academic building to the east of the encampment used to protest Israel’s war in Gaza.After 12:30 a.m., protesters broke into the building and barricaded themselves with wooden chairs, metal tables, and trashcans. People linked arms to form a line protecting the entrance while others picketed, leading chants in support of Gaza and divesting from Columbia.
Columbia University protesters demand the school halt investments with companies profiting from israel’s war against hamas in gaza, and they want amnesty for students and faculty involved in the protest. They were not alone. Faculty members, donning orange safety vests, joined students in rallying near the encampment. “We salute you, we stand with you,” Shana Redmond, a professor of English and comparative literature, told the crowd from a megaphone. “And we’re so proud to be your professors.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters took over the central campus building on Monday, after the school asked them to voluntarily disperse from an encampment.
Dozens of protesters took over Hamilton hall on Columbia’s campus, barricading entrances and hanging a “free palestine” banner from a window as administrators warn that they face expulsion for doing so on tuesday, april’30th . Protesters insist they will remain at the hall until the university agrees to three demands: divestment from Israel and companies supporting the war in gaza, financial transparency and amnesty for protesters.
Earlier on April ’29, Columbia University suspended students as promised who defy a 2 p.m. deadline to leave the encampment of more than 100 tents. Instead of vacating, hundreds of protesters remained, marched around the quad and weaved around piles of temporary flooring and green carpeting meant for graduation ceremonies that are scheduled to begin next week.
New York City police are called to Columbia’s campus to disband the protest encampment and arrest more than 100 protesters. Those detained include the daughter of democratic U.S. rep. Ilhan omar, who a day earlier had questioned shafik about the school’s treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters. Hundreds of officers entered through a second story window using a New York police department armored vehicle with a mechanized drawbridge.
The arrests, which New York mayor Eric Adams says were requested by Columbia University officials, drawn national attention and inflame college protests nationwide.
Columbia University cancels in-person classes. Columbia University said it was left “with no choice.”
Columbia University administration set a new midnight deadline for protesters to clear the encampment. While some leave, others dig in and refuse to disband until the school agrees to stop doing business with Israel or any companies that support the latest israel-hamas war.
The school sends students an email saying that bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive. Columbia university students say they’re at an impasse after exhaustive negotiations with administrators and they intend to continue their encampment until their divestment demands are met. That comes after hundreds of protesters have been arrested nationwide over the previous nine days.
Meanwhile, schools across the country where protests have taken root prepare to shut down encampments over reports of anti-Semitic activity and concerns for upcoming commencement ceremonies.
College campus demonstrations have ramped up in opposition to the civilian toll in gaza, where more than 34,000 people have died since the Israeli invasion that followed a hamas-led attack that killed almost 1,200 people in Israel.
Around the country, the number of arrests approaches 1,000 at campuses nationwide meanwhile.
