- The NYPD surrounded Columbia University Tuesday evening
- Morningside campus students issued shelter-in-place warning
- Protesters broke into Hamilton Hall just hours before the raid.
Hundreds of NYPD riot police surrounded the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University.
A shelter-in-place alert has been issued for the Morningside campus which just began mobilizing Tuesday evening.
Students were warned that non-compliance “could result in further disciplinary action” as officers in riot gear descended.
As police prepared, activists locked arms and vowed to defend the protest.
The operation took place after a group of rogue protesters forced their way into the college’s historic Hamilton Hall to stage an overnight occupation.
Hundreds of NYPD riot police surrounded the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University.
The operation took place after a group of rogue protesters forced their way into the college’s historic Hamilton Hall to stage an overnight occupation.
The use of police was condemned by the Columbia University chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
This affair constitutes the latest escalation of the unrest which has shaken the school in recent weeks.
Activists have been camped on the south lawns of the Ivy League school since April 17.
Protesters are demanding that the university divest from companies with ties to Israel or companies profiting from the war against Hamas.
College officials are fighting to shut down the camp, saying it violates university policies.
Following the occupation of Hamilton Hall, President Minouche Shafik warned that those involved risked deportation.
More than 100 activists have already been arrested at the school since the start of the encampment.
A first encampment was dismantled by NYPD officials. But university officials had pledged not to take similar measures during the current protest.
They gave the students an ultimatum to leave, but few followed the instructions.
“We will not leave until Columbia meets every one of our demands,” one activist shouted from a balcony of the building after the takeover.
A shelter-in-place alert has been issued for the Morningside campus which just began mobilizing Tuesday evening.
Students warned non-compliance ‘could result in further disciplinary action’ as police in riot gear descended
Authorities then began suspending students before one group raided Hamilton Hall.
However, it was the escalation of tactics that pushed the university to call the police.
The move was condemned by the Columbia University chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which said its members had been barred from campus.
“The presence of the NYPD in our neighborhood endangers our entire community. The entry of armed police onto our campus endangers students and everyone else on campus,” a statement read.
“We hold university leaders accountable for the disastrous errors in judgment that have brought us to this point.”
The statement added that the teachers spent time trying to defuse the situation, but were “rebuffed or ignored.”
At a press conference preceding the raid, Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner warned that the protest had been hijacked by external agitators unaffiliated with the university.
She stressed that the occupation had the potential to spill over to other buildings on campus, as well as other universities across the country.
“This is not about what is happening abroad, nor the last seven months, but a very different engagement in sometimes violent protest activities as an occupation,” she said .
“They have no right to be on campus and this violates university policies and, more importantly, presents a danger to students, the university and communities.”
“When we see what we saw last night, we believe these tactics are a result of the advice given to students by these external actors.”
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