Police officers carrying zip ties and riot shields stormed a Columbia University building being occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters, streaming in through a window late Tuesday and arresting dozens of people. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses across the United States.
Video: Police clear anti-Israel protesters from Columbia University's Hamilton Hall after occupation / Credit: Reuters
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A statement released by a Columbia spokesperson said officers entered the campus after the university requested help. A tent encampment on the school's grounds began nearly two weeks ago to protest the Israel-Hamas war. "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."
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The arrests at Columbia – where protesters had shrugged off an earlier ultimatum to abandon the encampment Monday or be suspended – unfolded as other universities stepped up efforts to end the protests. Police swept through some campuses, leading to confrontations and more than 1,000 arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.
Columbia's police action happened on the 56th anniversary of a similar move to quash an occupation of Hamilton Hall by students protesting racism and the Vietnam War.The police department earlier Tuesday said officers wouldn't enter the grounds without the college administration's request or an imminent emergency. Now, law enforcement will be there through May 17, the end of the university's commencement events.
In a letter to senior NYPD officials, Columbia President Minouche Shafik said the administration was making the request that police remove protesters from the occupied building and a nearby tent encampment "with the utmost regret." Shafik also leaned into the idea, first put forward by New York City Mayor Eric Adams earlier in the day, that the group that occupied Hamilton was "led by individuals who are not affiliated with the university."
Before officers arrived at Columbia, the White House condemned the standoffs there and at 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.
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.
