5 Minutes Read
As Pro-Palestine protests intensify, police enter Columbia University; over 100 arrested
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)
Summary
Protestors occupied Hamilton Hall, a building on Columbia’s Upper Manhattan campus on Tuesday morning.
Hundreds of police officers in riot gear marched onto Columbia University’s campus in the heart of New York City late Tuesday and arrested dozens of pro-Palestine demonstrators. The officials cleared a building the protesters had seized around 20 hours earlier.
The protestors had occupied Hamilton Hall, a building on Columbia’s Upper Manhattan campus on Tuesday morning. This further escalated a crisis that has consumed the university, besides igniting student activism across dozens of campuses around the country, The Guardian reported.
To enter the building, police officials broke a second-floor window on Tuesday night and led protestors, with their hands bound by zip ties, onto law enforcement buses.
More than 100 protesters have been arrested at Columbia University and City College of New York, a law enforcement official stated.
Of these, most arrests were made at Columbia where about two dozen demonstrators tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, police officials said.
On its behalf, the university noted that it called the police to campus for the second time in less than two weeks after its building was “vandalised and blockaded” by protestors, reports said.
In a letter to the New York Police Department, Columbia University’s president Nemat Shafik said these actions “have become a magnet for protesters outside our gates, which creates significant risk to our campus.”
The police have been asked to continue to be present on the campus until May 17 to prevent further encampments or occupations.
According to local media reports, both Hamilton Hall and the protest encampment at the university are now entirely cleared of students.
“The only thing that is left is the tents and their property,” officials noted. Further, NYPD spokesman Carlos Nieves said there were no immediate reports of any injuries following the arrests.
Meanwhile, university administrators around the US struggle to contain pro-Palestinian demonstrations across dozens of campuses in the country. These demonstrations have already led to the arrests of several hundred students and other activists.
Meanwhile, the White House earlier criticised the seizure of Hamilton Hall. A spokesman said the act was “absolutely the wrong approach.”
“That is not an example of peaceful protest,” the spokesman noted.
Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout
3 Mins Read
Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter
Daily Newsletter
