NYU students and professors were arrested Thursday afternoon after they bound themselves together and blocked the school’s library in Lower Manhattan during a pro-Palestine protest.
The protest began early Dec. 12 and lasted well into the afternoon as students placed their arms in long metal cylinders and sat outside of the NYU Bobst Library, located at 70 Washington Square South. The blockade prevented their peers and staff from entering the premises.
Other students set up banners and created a picket line as they marched across the sidewalk.
Campus security attempted to usher the blockade away but were ultimately left helpless as the demonstrators refused to comply. It wasn’t until just after noon that school faculty appeared to have enough of the protest.
Fountain Walker, vice president of Global Campus Safety at NYU, stood with the NYPD Strategic Response Group and announced that the police would start making arrests.
“I am asking you all to please vacate the area. You are causing an obstruction, and I am asking you to please vacate the area. If you do not vacate the area, you will be charged with trespassing,” Walker said. “Subsequently, you will be arrested.”
At least two professors seemed to attempt to block cops, resulting in them getting hauled away in zip ties first. Officers then used heavy-duty power saws, sending some sparks flying, to cut into the protester’s constraints and free their limbs. Others underwent tense face-offs and shouting matches with cops At least half a dozen people were arrested after the long, arduous process of unshackling them.
“Free Palestine!” they cried as some were literally carried away.
This demonstration is the latest in a long line of student-led rebellions on NYC campuses demanding that their universities divest funds in the Middle East war.
Most famously, earlier this year, students at Columbia University set up an encampment on the grounds that saw protesters breaking into a school building, leaving the NYPD to initiate large-scale arrests.
In response to this incident, an NYU Spokesperson stated that campus safety attempted to de-escalate the situation; however, several individuals did not adhere to the requests to clear the area. Additionally, the spokesperson stressed that this protest was disruptive and harassed members of the NYU community.
“Starting earlier in the day today, a group of individuals began protesting in front of NYU’s main library. At about noon, these protesters sought to block all the entryways into and out of the building, ignoring the clear direction of NYU Campus Safety Officers and repeated attempts by University personnel to de-escalate the situation,” NYU Spokesperson John Beckman said.
“As a result, entry into the library was temporarily stopped, other than for those who have classes or exams there. The library remained open and operating for those who were inside. The police came to the scene to ensure the safety of our community, to restore clear and free access to the building, and to help maintain order. Eight arrests were made. Normal entry and exit has now been restored. The University rejects any claims that this is peaceful protest: the people involved were intentionally targeting members of our community; their harassing behavior disrupted our academic operations at a particularly critical moment in the semester (as finals start), ignored the rights of students who wish to study in the library, and interfered with safe passage into and out of a core academic building,” the rest of the statement read.
