Hundreds of NYPD officers are in the process of squashing the Columbia University protesters’ siege of Hamilton Hall, police confirmed.
Decked in riot gear and apparently carrying zipties for arrests, the phalanx of officers were seen approaching the main entrance to Columbia at West 114th Street and Broadway at about nightfall. Police had been on patrol outside Columbia all day, but had not entered the campus until just after 9 p.m. Tuesday.
The Columbia Daily Spectator reported that the school’s Emergency Management and Operations Team had issued an alert to students at about 8:18 p.m. on April 30 urging them to shelter-in-place until further notice. “Non-compliance may result in disciplinary action,” the alert noted.
More than 100 officers are currently inside Hamilton Hall — including some officers entering through a second-floor window via a large NYPD vehicle. Flashbangs were used to distract the protesters; it was initially reported as tear gas, but that proved inaccurate; EMS was called in to provide assistance.
By 9:45 p.m., the NYPD had four marked school buses full of arrested protesters. Some officers were scene literally carrying individuals away.
Police also moved onto the campus lawn to remove the encampment. Supporters of the siege are shouting “Shame!” at the officers moving in to do their job.
Those involved in the siege, police officials said earlier on Tuesday, would be subject to arrest on multiple criminal charges including burglary and criminal trespassing.
By 9:45 p.m., the @NYPDnews had four marked school buses full of arrested #ColumbiaUniversity protesters. Some officers were scene literally carrying individuals away. @Dean_Moses on the scene for us. pic.twitter.com/JnVawybLHt
— amNewYork™ (@amNewYork) May 1, 2024
More police storming Hamilton Hall @Columbia. Students being arrested. pic.twitter.com/BMwNbtfeV4
— Sheila Coronel (@SheilaCoronel) May 1, 2024
#Breaking #ColumbiaUniversityProtest #Gaza
🚨BREAKING : Video Showing Police arresting protestors in Hamilton Hall at Columbia University.
— The Breaking Report (@TheBreakingRprt) May 1, 2024
Both Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Edward Caban had said the NYPD was ready to enter the campus at any time, but only with the express permission of Columbia University’s administration.
Citing City Hall sources, NBC reported that Columbia University, on Tuesday evening, requested assistance from the NYPD in writing.
In a statement from a spokesperson, Columbia University confirmed that they had requested the NYPD’s intervention “to restore safety and order to our community.”
“We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, at a Tuesday night briefing, Mayor Adams and NYPD officials indicated that the Columbia protests and siege appeared to be instigated by professional agitators who infiltrated the student body.
“They’re here to create discord and dissonance,” Adams said during the presser at One Police Plaza. “That’s why I’m urging every student and every protester to walk away from this situation now, and continue your advocacy by other means.”
Columbia’s spokesperson said the university seems to agree, and believes “that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the” school.
“The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing,” the spokesperson added. “We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”
And it doesn’t look like the NYPD will be leaving Columbia anytime soon. In her April 30 letter to the NYPD requesting intervention, Columbia President Minouche Shafik requested that the NYPD “retain a presence through at least May 17, 2024 to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished.”
Students at Columbia linking arms in front of the main gate to prevent NYPD from entering and arresting their comrades.
Arrests now. pic.twitter.com/fse2bH4mAO
— Talia Jane ❤️🔥 (@taliaotg) May 1, 2024
Siege was tipping point
The NYPD operation occurs nearly 24 hours after pro-Palestine protesters on Columbia’s campus stormed Hamilton Hall, violently smashing their way into the facility and barricading themselves inside.
The siege marked a dramatic escalation of the nearly two-week-long demonstration that began with an encampment on Columbia’s South Lawn in support of Gaza.
On April 18, Columbia administrators had called the NYPD in to remove some of the encampment participants from the South Lawn, leading to more than 100 arrests. But the encampment re-established itself after police left, and Columbia University President Minouche Shafik indicated afterward that police would not called back.
But over the last two weeks, the Columbia encampment grew nearly unchecked, even amid widespread reports of outside agitators participating and an increased use of antisemitic rhetoric that left Jewish students on campus feeling intimidated and unsafe.
On Monday, Columbia University ordered all remaining encampment participants to vacate by 2 p.m., or face suspension. Still, many participants refused — and after midnight Tuesday, about 60 to 100 of them stormed Hamilton Hall.
A spokesperson for the “autonomous group” which seized Hamilton Hall said Tuesday “this escalation represents the next generation of the 1968, 1985 and 1992 student movements which Columbia once repressed but celebrate’s today.” The spokesperson said it would not end the siege until Columbia acquiesces to demands to divest from Israel, and provide amnesty for those responsible for the protest.
They also requested that the university continue to fulfill its meal plan obligations despite having taken control of a campus building.
Columbia’s administrators stated afterward that the participants faced expulsion. Still, throughout the day Tuesday, they did not permit NYPD officers on campus to end the siege — despite the fact that police officials publicly insisted they were ready to go at a moment’s notice.
This is a developing story; check with amNY.com for further updates.
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