Topline
LAPD officers were deployed to the UCLA campus amid clashes between pro-Palestinian protestors and counter-demonstrators early Wednesday, hours after New York police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University who had barricaded themselves inside a key university building.
New York Police Department officers enter the Columbia University building and detain ... [+]
Key Facts
New York Police Department officers entered Columbia’s Hamilton Hall by breaching one of its second-floor windows, and then led protestors out with their hands bound in zip ties and boarded them onto a bus.
A police spokesperson told reporters the protestors had barricaded the doors of the building with “conference tables, chairs or soda machines,” and taped up the windows “with newspapers so we couldn’t see.”
The police intervention came after Columbia University’s President Nemat Shafik wrote to the NYPD, alleging the demonstrators inside Hamilton Hall were “led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University” and they had “vandalized University property and are trespassing.”
Shafik’s letter said the Hamilton Hall occupation and encampments inside the University premises had become “a magnet for protesters outside our gates, which creates significant risk to our campus” and requested continued police presence “through at least May 17.”
Hours after the arrests, authorities removed the protesters’ encampments from the campus lawns along with banners placed in front of Hamilton Hall.
Dozens of protestors were also arrested at the nearby City College of New York campus after clashes reportedly erupted between the police and demonstrators, while the LAPD responded to clashes between pro-Palestinian protestors and counter-demonstrators at UCLA early on Wednesday, hours after the university declared encampments set up by the protestors were “unlawful.”
Crucial Quote
Commenting on the police action, Columbia University said: “We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions…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.”
Key Background
Early on Tuesday, a group of protestors broke into Hamilton Hall, which houses the university’s undergraduate admissions office. University officials responded by threatening to expel students occupying the building and accused them of trespassing and vandalizing university property. The university campus was also locked down on Tuesday, with only students living in Columbia’s on-campus residence halls and essential staff being allowed in. Previously, protestors had been given a 2 p.m. Monday deadline to clear out their encampments from the campus. The protesting students have been demanding that the university divest from companies doing business with Israel and the Israeli military.
Tangent
According to the Los Angeles Times, a group of counter-protestors tried to tear down barricades surrounding the encampment and threw objects at the protesters inside. UCLA authorities condemned the violence and said they have requested help from the Los Angeles Police Department. In a statement on X, LA Mayor Karen Bass said: “The violence unfolding this evening at UCLA is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable.” Some counter-protesters left the area after LAPD officers in riot gear arrived on the scene but clashes near the encampments continued, the LA Times report added.
NYPD officers in riot gear break into a building at Columbia University, where pro-Palestinian ... [+]
New York City police officers take people into custody near the Columbia University campus.
New York Police Department detain pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had barricaded themselves inside ... [+]
Further Reading
Columbia Threatens To Expel Students Occupying Hamilton Hall (Forbes)
