NYPD officers in riot gear moved into Columbia University’s storied campus Tuesday night, arresting dozens of protesters and clearing an occupied university building and tent encampment.
After several days of negotiations with protest leaders and constant criticism over the decision to have more than 100 protesters arrested nearly two weeks ago, university officials on Tuesday seemed to have decided to no longer tolerate the ongoing protests. In a letter to the NYPD, Columbia President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik said the officers will remain on campus for at least two days after the university’s May 15 graduation.
The protesters resumed their occupation of the west lawn at Columbia after the April 18 arrests, demonstrating against Israel’s military actions in Gaza and demanding university disinvestment from Israel. The war, which started after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 hostages, has resulted in the deaths of nearly 35,000 Gazans.
The Columbia campout inspired similar protests across New York City and the country, resulting in hundreds of arrests and suspensions at dozens of universities. That includes City College of New York, where police officials said 70 protesters were arrested Tuesday night.
CCNY has closed the campus to everyone but nonessential personnel and moved classes and other school activities online “until further notice,” according to a statement posted on the school’s website.
NYPD and university officials said in separate statements that they believed at least some of the Columbia protesters were not students but “outside agitators” who had forced an escalation of protest activities, including the occupation and vandalization of Hamilton Hall on Monday night.
The scene was tense outside the Ivy League school’s gates at 114th Street and Broadway late Tuesday. Students living in off-campus apartments propped open windows and peered out from their living rooms as dozens of law enforcement officials blocked the doors to their buildings as rain began to pour.
Protesters were later seen being led away from the campus and loaded onto NYPD buses outside the campus. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and onlookers continued to gather at the various barricades intersections surrounding the campus late into the night.
“This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community,” a Columbia spokesperson said in a statement. “We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions.”
Legally, the NYPD can only enter Columbia’s private campus if they are invited by university officials or if they are responding to a crime in progress. In the letter explaining the decision to finally clear the protesters, Shafik specifically said she was aware NYPD might decide to use “LRAD” technology – a crowd-clearing noise cannon.
Students are loaded onto NYPD buses outside of Columbia University on Tuesday night.
Bahar Ostadan/Gothamist
The university’s request came just hours after Mayor Eric Adams and top NYPD officials instructed protesters once again to leave the campus, signaling that those who remained would face criminal charges.
“This must end now,” Adams said. “If you are a parent … please call your child and urge them to leave the area before the situation escalates.”
Over the last several days, the Columbia protests have largely fallen into two groups: a mostly student-run protest of tents on the lawn inside the university gates and non-affiliated groups who often gather outside the university’s property. However, Adams and police brass have insisted that outsiders infiltrated the on-campus actions despite school officials restricting access early Tuesday to essential personnel and students who live in dorms on campus.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner said some non-student protesters found on campus have been “known to the department for many years,” while others were reported to police by the university. Weiner described people in black clothes scaling buildings, breaking windows, pulling barricades into school buildings and destroying cameras.
She presented a two-minute video strung together from social media clips to reporters, showing chaotic scenes from the school’s campus on Monday night as the school building was taken over by protesters.
“These people are not Columbia students,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said. “They are working to escalate the situation.”
Police officers outside of Columbia University on Tuesday night.
Catalina Gonella/Gothamist
The NYPD declined to name those who they called “professional agitators.” They also did not share details about how the department identified them or whether the suspects had criminal records. Weiner said law enforcement agencies outside New York have helped police link some people from recent demonstrations to protests like Stop Cop City in Atlanta.
Since the protests began, some Jewish students, religious leaders and politicians have accused protesters both inside and outside of Columbia of using threatening and antisemitic language. Neither NYPD officials nor university leaders referenced such instances Tuesday in justifying the decision to clear the encampments.
Students at the encampment were warned they could face trespassing and disorderly conduct charges, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry said Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, those who occupied Hamilton Hall could face burglary and criminal mischief charges, Daughtry said. Students also face additional discipline from the school, like suspension from classes and loss of on-campus housing. University officials warned students occupying buildings face expulsion.
“We believe that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University,” a university spokesperson said. “Sadly, this dangerous decision followed more than a week of what had been productive discussions with representatives of the West Lawn encampment.”
They continued, “After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice.”
This is a developing story and may be updated.