As unprecedented in the annals characterise the American media the operation conducted at dawn on Wednesday morning (local time Greece) the New York police in order to evacuate the occupation in Hamilton Hall of Columbia University, at the request of the rector’s authorities.
“I’ve never seen such a large mobilisation of police officers for one spot,” a CNN reporter commented, with police officers entering Columbia through a first-floor window using a special ladder.
After Columbia University, NYPD officers headed to City College located in Harlem in order to also remove students there who were protesting in support of Palestine and against Israel, with the overall apology citing at least 100 arrests from both academic institutions.
Dozens arrested when NYPD cops storm Columbia campus to clear out anti-Israel mob
Columbia University’s dean’s office even asked the police to maintain a presence on the grounds of the institution until May 17, with a spokesperson for the protesters stating that the protests would continue ‘after the violence they experienced against them.’
According to Columbia Daily Spectator archives, the police intervention comes exactly 56 years after a similar operation in 1968 when more than 700 people protesting against the Vietnam War were arrested with officers then storming Hamilton Hall through tunnels.
NYPD officials said that flash bangs were used in the operation but not tear gas with video footage of what the occupiers left behind.
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At City College in New York City, police officers restored the U.S. flag that had been taken down by protesters to put the Palestinian flag in its place.
Columbia’s decision
The police operation comes after two weeks of tensions at Columbia with pro-Palestine protesters rejecting the ultimatum given to them on Monday to evacuate the occupied premises or else risk suspension. On Tuesday, Columbia officials even threatened those students who had occupied Hamilton Hall with permanent expulsion, with the panhellenic finally announcing that it had requested police intervention ‘to restore safety and order to the academic community.’
#HAPPENINGNOW: An incredible scene and proud moment as we have assisted @CityCollegeNY in restoring order on campus, culminating in raising Old Glory once again on their campus flagpole. 🇺🇸@NYPDPC @NYPD1stDep @NYPDChiefOfDept @NYPDChiefPatrol @NYPDnews pic.twitter.com/XZWFmvXcUs
— NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations Kaz Daughtry (@NYPDDaughtry) May 1, 2024
Shocking video showed anti-Israel protesters breaking into Hamilton Hall at Columbia University
‘As the university has been informed that Hamilton Hall has been occupied, vandalised and locked down we have no choice. Columbia security staff were forcibly removed from the building and a member of the academic community was threatened.
We will not risk the safety of the community or the possibility of further escalation,’reads, among other things, the university’s statement, which notes on the one hand that those who ‘broke into and occupied the building’ are led by individuals ‘not affiliated with the university.’ ‘The decision to contact the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause for which they were protesting,’ Columbia’s statement concluded.
