Police stormed the Columbia University building late Tuesday after the university asked for help, a spokesman said in a statement. A tent camp on campus was cleared, as was Hamilton Hall, where a stream of police used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window.
Protesters calling for the Ivy League university to stop collaborating with Israel or companies that support the Gaza war took over the hall about 20 hours ago. The school said:
“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalised, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. 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 arrests came after protesters refused to honour an earlier ultimatum to leave the camp on Monday or be suspended, and after other universities stepped up efforts to end the demonstrations inspired by Columbia University.
Fabien Lugo, a first-year accounting student who said he did not participate in the protests, said he disagreed with the university’s decision to call the police. He said:
“This is too intense. It feels like more of an escalation than a de-escalation.”
Meanwhile, clashes broke out at UCLA overnight between Palestinian and Israeli protesters. People were throwing things, pushing and hitting each other with sticks. At one point, a group piled onto one man who was lying on the ground, kicking and beating him until others pulled him out of the scrum. The media reported:
“Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.”
The clashes occurred near a tent city where Palestinian protesters had erected barricades and plywood for protection, and protesters were attempting to tear them down. Police cars were seen nearby, but officers did not immediately intervene.
Mary Osako, a senior UCLA official, told the university’s Daily Bruin newspaper that the university “immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid.” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spoke with the university’s chancellor and said police would respond to the school’s request, according to a post by her spokesman Zach Seidl on social media platform X.
Security was beefed up on campus on Tuesday after what officials said were “physical confrontations” between groups of protesters.
Police have swept through other US university campuses in the past two weeks, leading to clashes and more than 1,000 arrests. In more rare instances, university officials and protest leaders have made agreements to limit disruptions to campus life and upcoming graduation ceremonies.
Just a few blocks away from Columbia University, at the City College of New York, protesters clashed with police at the main gate of the public college. Video posted on social media by reporters who arrived on the scene late Tuesday shows police officers dropping some people to the ground and pushing others, removing people from the street and pavements. Many detained demonstrators were taken away on city buses.
After police arrived, officers lowered the Palestinian flag from the City College flagpole, rolled it up and threw it to the ground, and then raised the American flag.
Earlier Tuesday, the police department said officers would not enter the grounds without a request from the college administration or in case of an emergency. Law enforcers will now remain there until May 17, when the university’s celebrations end.
The nationwide campus protests began at Columbia in response to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October. The militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. After promising to destroy Hamas, Israel killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.
Ceasefire talks appear to be gaining momentum, but it is unclear whether they will lead to an easing of the protests.
