Police noted that increasing occupation techniques, such as vandalism, the deployment of barricades to block access, and the destruction of surveillance cameras, were a contributing factor in their conclusions.
After an almost two-week-long standoff with Columbia University administration, pro-Palestinian demonstrators took over a campus building. On Tuesday night, New York City police officers entered the university’s grounds in an apparent attempt to disperse them.
Police were seen on live video entering the prestigious upper Manhattan campus, which has served as the epicenter for student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza that have extended to dozens of US institutions.
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As police in a riot team approached the building’s guarded door, they said, “We’re clearing it out.” As numerous other police officers marched towards the protest camp.
“Shame! shame!” exclaimed a number of curious undergrads who were remained outdoors on campus.
Earlier on Tuesday, representatives of Columbia University threatened to exclude the students who had taken over Hamilton Hall from their classes.
Protesters broke windows, stormed inside, and unfurled a banner saying “Hind’s Hall,” symbolically renaming the building in honor of a 6-year-old Palestinian kid who was slain in Gaza by Israeli forces. This marked the beginning of the occupation overnight.
Outside the eight-story, neo-classical building – the site of various student occupations on the campus demonstrators used tables to block the entry, formed a barrier with their arms, and screamed pro-Palestinian slogans, all dating back to the 1960s.
A few hours before to police entering Columbia, Mayor Eric Adams and city police officials stated during an evening news briefing that “outside agitators,” who are not associated with Columbia and are recognized by law enforcement for inciting lawlessness, were the source of the Hamilton Hall invasion.
Police noted that increasing occupation techniques, such as vandalism, the deployment of barricades to block access, and the destruction of surveillance cameras, were a contributing factor in their conclusions.
Adams implied that some of the student demonstrators were unaware of the presence of “external actors” in their group.
“What ought to be a peaceful assembly cannot and will not degenerate into a pointless violent show. We cannot afford to wait for this to get any worse. Now, this has to stop,” declared the mayor.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian researcher enrolled on a student visa at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, was one of the protest leaders and refuted claims made by others that outsiders started the occupation. He told Reuters, “They’re students.”
A day earlier, university administrators announced that they had started disciplining students who disobeyed a deadline to leave a protest encampment. They also said that negotiations with protest leaders to tear down the tents had come to a standstill after many days of discussions.
“A noisy distraction that interferes with teaching, learning, and final exam preparation has created a threatening environment for many of our Jewish students and faculty due to campus disruptions,” the institution stated in a statement on Tuesday.
As they did on April 18, when NYPD officers cleared out a previous encampment, authorities from the New York Police Department had made it clear prior to Tuesday night’s sweep that they would not approach the campus unless Columbia administrators requested them to do so.