NYPD officers arrest Columbia protesters after school asks for help ending occupation

Police cleared 30 to 40 people from inside Columbia University's Hamilton Hall late Tuesday after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the administration building on the New York campus earlier in the day.

NYPD officers acted after the school's president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus and sought help from the department. The occupation of the building came as demonstrators spread out from an encampment elsewhere on the Ivy League school's grounds.

School officials asked law enforcement to stay on the Columbia campus through May 17, the end of the university's commencement events.

Columbia's protests began earlier this month and kicked off demonstrations that now span from California to Massachusetts. As May commencement ceremonies near, administrators face added pressure to clear protesters.

WATCH | Police enter Columbia University building:

NYPD storm Hamilton Hall to remove pro-Palestinian protesters

6 hours ago

Duration 3:05

CBC News was on the scene as New York police entered Hamilton Hall, the administration building that protesters began occupying on Tuesday morning, at Columbia University.

The scene unfolded shortly after 9 p.m. ET as police, wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and riot shields, massed at the Ivy League university's entrance. Officers breached Hamilton Hall, an administration building on campus that demonstrators had occupied more than 12 hours earlier, to clear out the structure.

The move came hours after NYPD brass said officers wouldn't enter the campus without the administration's request or an imminent emergency.

Columbia 'left with no choice'

"After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice," the school's statement said, adding that school public safety personnel were forced out of the building and one facilities worker was "threatened."

"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."

More than 1,000 protesters have been arrested over the last two weeks on campuses in states including Texas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut, Louisiana, California and New Jersey — some after confrontations with police in riot gear.

In a letter to senior police officials, Columbia president Minouche Shafik asked that police remove protesters from the occupied building and a nearby tent encampment "with the utmost regret."

New York Mayor Eric Adams claimed Tuesday that the Columbia protests have been "co-opted by professional outside agitators."

The mayor didn't provide specific evidence to back up that contention, which was disputed by protest organizers and participants who oppose Israeli military action in Gaza and demand the school divest from companies they claim are profiting from the conflict.

Biden says occupying schools 'the wrong approach'

The White House condemned the standoffs at Columbia and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, where protesters had occupied two buildings until officers with batons intervened overnight and arrested 25 people. Officials estimated the Northern California campus's total damage to be upwards of $1 million US.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he believes students occupying an academic building is "absolutely the wrong approach," and "not an example of peaceful protest," said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

Other colleges have sought to negotiate agreements with the demonstrators in the hopes of having peaceful commencement ceremonies.

As ceasefire negotiations appeared to gain steam, it wasn't clear whether those talks would lead to an easing of campus protests.

Northwestern University notched a rare win when officials said they reached a compromise with students and faculty who represent the majority of protesters on its campus near Chicago to allow peaceful demonstrations through the end of spring classes.

The nationwide campus protests began at Columbia in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while Israel's critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition.

Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests — some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.