The New York Police Department at the local time of around 9 pm entered the premises of Columbia University and arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protestors on Tuesday.
While raiding the campus, the police first removed the occupiers of the campus building. And then removed the protest encampment, which the Ivy league university sought to dismantle for the last two weeks.
As per the Television images, it showed police entering the inside the college campus in upper Manhattan. In the video the police yelled “We’re clearing it out”.
The police officers used a ladder from a truck to climb into Hamilton Hall, which was occupied by protestors who had also replaced the US flag with a Palestinian flag on Monday.
Later, the police loaded the protestors into the bus, with the hands tied behind their back by zip ties. The scene was filled with entire vehicles flashing blue and red lights.
As the police carried out the arrests, the students were chanting “Free Free Palestine.” The students outside the hall were also shouting “shame shame.”
Prior to the police intervention, officials stated that the occupation of Hamilton Hall was incited by “outside agitators” unaffiliated with Columbia University. Additionally, they also that the situation had become menacing for Jewish students and disrupted the university’s operations.
However, some of the protestors disputed this assertion that it was outsiders who led the attack.
According to NBC news, the university has requested the NYPD for their presence in the campus till May 17.
This action comes around the time, when the government and law enforcement are already taking tough measures including suspensions & expulsions of students to deal with the protests since Hamas’s October 7 attack which witnessed the casualty of around 1,200 deaths and the captivity of hostages.