A large number of New York City police officers began entering Columbia University late Tuesday, April 30, as many pro-Palestinian protestors occupied the campus, according to the Associated Press. The NYPD allegedly entered the campus after obtaining a notification from Columbia authorising them to act. The police approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that students occupied. The students are protesting Israel’s military assault in Gaza. They have also urged that the school divest from corporations that they feel benefit from the war.
Columbia has also acknowledged that it contacted police before they entered campus. “The NYPD came on campus just after 9 p.m. this evening, per the University’s request. A university official stated, “This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community.”
“After the University discovered overnight that Hamilton Hall had been invaded, vandalised, and blockaded, we had no option. Columbia public safety professionals were forced to evacuate the facility, and one of our facilities team members was threatened. We will not jeopardise the safety of our community or the possibility of future escalation.” We decided early in the morning that this was a law enforcement concern, and that the NYPD was best suited to identify and carry out an appropriate reaction.”
The spokesman stated that the group that “broke into and occupied the building” is led by individuals who are “not affiliated with the University.” “The decision to contact the NYPD was in response to the demonstrators’ conduct, not the cause they are advocating. We have made it plain that campus life cannot be disrupted indefinitely by demonstrators who break the norms and the law,” the statement said.
Protesters began seizing Hamilton Hall on Monday, April 30, after failing to depart their campus camp by the deadline of 2 p.m. The institution subsequently began suspending students who had participated.
Minouche Shafik, the university president, earlier stated that all efforts to negotiate a solution with the demonstration organisers had failed. She also stated that the organisation will not discontinue divesting from Israel.
A line of police officers was spotted climbing inside the building via a second-floor window. They employed a ladder-equipped truck to gain access to the higher floor.
As police rushed the adjoining campsite, students outside the university jeered at them, chanting “Shame, shame!” according to Reuters. Meanwhile, New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman condemned police action, writing on X, “I am disturbed by the degree of police presence demanded of peaceful student demonstrators on Columbia and CCNY campuses. As an educator with firsthand experience with over-policing in our schools, this is personal to me.”
