Pro Palestine Protest at US Universities: In an attempt to disperse pro-Palestine activists who had taken over the famous Hamilton Hall, New York City Police officers arrested hundreds of protestors when they broke onto the Columbia University campus. This follows threats from university administration to drive out the anti-Israel demonstrators if they didn’t stop occupying the building, which has a long history of being associated with student activism.
NYPD Clears Hamilton Hall
The New York City Police Department claimed on Wednesday that the building had been cleared and that no one had been hurt during the operation to disperse the demonstrators, more than an hour after the officers had entered Hamilton Hall through a second-floor window, CNN reported. The police continued by saying that they were still keeping an eye out for demonstrators throughout New York City.
The tension between pro-Palestinian activists and Ivy League school administrators had been building for almost two weeks. Earlier in the evening, hundreds of officers from the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group were stationed outside the campus as the mayor of New York City declared, “This must end now”.
Over a Thousand Protestors Detained Since Columbia University Arrests
More than a thousand protestors have been detained on college campuses in the states of Texas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut, Louisiana, California, and New Jersey since the mass arrests of pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University on April 18.
The protestors were told to “back up” by the New York City Police officers as they began removing them from the campus and the building. The saying “back up, or get arrested” was repeated by the officers.
Columbia University Authorized Police Action Before Campus Entry
According to a law enforcement official who spoke with The Associated Press, the New York Police Department received a notice from Columbia allowing officers to take action just before they entered the campus.
According to a Columbia University spokesman, those unaffiliated with the Ivy League university led the demonstrators that broke inside Hamilton Hall, CNN said. “We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation.”
Protesters Honor Slain Palestinian Child in Hamilton Hall Occupation
Speaking to reporters, New York City Mayor Eric Adams claimed that “outside agitators” who are not associated with Columbia and are well-known to law enforcement for inciting lawlessness were the ones who started the Hamilton Hall invasion, according to Reuters.
Protesters broke windows and took control of Hamilton Hall on Tuesday, Reuters said. They then unfurled a banner that read “Hind’s Hall,” renaming the building in honor of a 6-year-old Palestinian kid who was slain in Gaza by Israeli forces. This marked the start of the building’s occupation.
Supplies Delivered to Hamilton Hall Occupiers
Pizzas and other food and supplies were sent to the demonstrators inside Hamilton Hall in a plastic box that hung from a pulley rope that was stretched from an upper-floor balcony while the students persisted in their occupation of the facility. After days of negotiations to terminate the encampment, Columbia school officials declared a deadlock on Monday and started disciplining pupils for refusing to vacate the protest tent site.
White House Denounces Columbia and Cal Poly Demonstrations
The demonstrations at Columbia and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where demonstrators had taken over two buildings until police with batons interfered throughout the night and detained twenty-five people, were denounced by the White House.
According to John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, President Joe Biden thinks that students taking over an academic facility is “absolutely the wrong approach” and “not an example of peaceful protest,” as reported by the Associated Press.
