Police arrested more than 100 people on Columbia University’s campus on Thursday after protesters set up an encampment on the campus to protest against Israel’s military actions against Hamas in Gaza.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that 108 people were arrested for trespassing on the university’s property. Police ensured that there was “no violence or injuries during the disturbance,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Adams emphasized that students have the right to free speech but “do not have the right to violate university policies and disrupt learning on campus.”
“I know the conflict in the Middle East has left many of us grieving and angry, it’s a painful moment for our city, for our country, and for the globe.
“New Yorkers have every right to express their sorrow but that heartbreak does not give you the right to harass others, to spread hate,” the mayor said. “We will not be a city of lawlessness.”
The arrests were made after Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik authorized the New York Police Department (NYPD) to clear the encampment from the South Lawn of the campus.
Ms. Shafik said the university had issued a written warning to students participating in the encampment and offered to continue discussions if they agreed to disperse, but they rejected these efforts.
“I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances. The individuals who established the encampment violated a long list of rules and policies,” Ms. Shafik said in a statement.
“This is a challenging moment and these are steps that I deeply regret having to take,” she added.
In an April 18 letter to the NYPD, Ms. Shafik requested that the police “remove these individuals” and said the encampment poses “a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.”
“All University students participating in the encampment have been informed they are suspended. At this time, the participants in the encampment are not authorized to be on University property and are trespassing,” she stated.
At least three students have received suspension notices from Barnard College, an affiliate of Columbia, for participating in the encampment, according to the pro-Palestinian advocacy group Institute for Middle East Understanding.
One of them is Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
“In my 3 years at Barnard College, I have never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary warnings. I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” she stated on X, formerly Twitter.
The congressional committee on Wednesday accused Ms. Shafik of failing to protect Jewish students on campus, echoing accusations leveled against three other elite university leaders at a hearing last year that sent shockwaves through higher education.
She responded by saying the university was facing a “moral crisis” with anti-Semitism on campus, and Columbia had taken strong actions against suspected perpetrators.
Protesters at Columbia have demanded a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to U.S. military assistance for Israel, as well as university divestment from companies profiting from Israel’s incursion.
The encampment was organized by a student-led coalition of groups, including Columbia University Apartheid Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Incidents at the 270-year-old university have included an unauthorized protest on April 4 of pro-Palestine students with signs bearing messages such as “Globalize the Intifada”—a reference to the periods of Palestinian terrorism against Israel during 1987–1993 and 2000–2005. Jewish students have complained of anti-Semitic graffiti and anti-Jewish verbal and physical abuse.
Other signs on campus have included the messages “Zionist Donors and Trustees Hands Off Our University” and “Zionism is Terrorism.”
Jackson Richman and Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
