May 1 (Punjab Khabarnama) : A massive number of New York City police officers started to enter Columbia University late Tuesday, April 30, with several pro-Palestinian protesters occupying the campus, AP reported. The NYPD reportedly entered the campus after receiving a notice from Columbia authorising them to take action. The police approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building students occupied. The students are protesting Israeli military action in Gaza. They have also demanded the school divest from companies they believe are profiting from the conflict.
Live TV images showed police detaining demonstrators at the campus. Some students have been escorted off campus, according to the New York Times. Some had their hands zip tied behind their backs. Some were loaded on to law enforcement buses.
The university’s statement
Columbia has also confirmed that it reached out to police before they entered the campus. “A little after 9 p.m. this evening, the NYPD arrived on campus at the University’s request. This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community,” a university spokesperson said in a statement, according to The Guardian.
“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation,” the statement added. We made the decision, early in the morning, that this was a law enforcement matter, and that the NYPD were best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response.”
The spokesperson reiterated that the group who “broke into and occupied the building” is being led by people who are “not affiliated with the University.” “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 statement added.
Police enter through a second-story window
Protesters began occupying Hamilton Hall after defying a 2 pm deadline on Monday, April 30, to abandon their camp on the campus. The university then began suspending students who were participating.
University president Minouche Shafik previously said that all efforts at reaching a compromise with organisers of the protest had failed. She also maintained that the institution would not stop divesting from Israel.
A line of police officers were seen climbing into the building through a second-story window. To access the upper floor, they used a vehicle with a ladder.
As police swarmed over the nearby encampment, students outside the campus jeered at them, shouting “Shame, shame!” as reported by Reuters. Meanwhile, New York congressman Jamaal Bowman denounced police’s intervention, saying on X, “I am outraged by the level of police presence called upon nonviolent student protestors on Columbia and CCNY’s campuses. As an educator who has first hand experience with the over-policing of our schools, this is personal to me.”
