Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested after Columbia calls in police | Columbia University

On Wednesday, the New York Police Department arrested dozens of pro -Palestinian activists who occupied part of the main library building on the University of Colombia’s campus on Wednesday evening, where it ended a confrontation for about hours for a year after the anti -war protest at the Ivy Legue School.

Claire Sheepman, head of the university’s representation, said in a statement that she had asked the New York police officers to help remove the building, after the demonstrators refused to leave despite their warning that failure in compliance would lead to a disciplinary action and perhaps their arrest by attacking the property of others. A New York police spokesman said the officers arrested “multiple individuals” who refused to disperse.

video Posted online By the group of active students in Colombia, the racist semester (CUAD) showed New York police officers in riot equipment entering the Bater Library reading room, where the demonstrators imprisoned the weapons and worked out: “We have nothing to lose except our chains!”

On Wednesday afternoon, the convincing demonstrators, and many who wore a black and white qualitative that was a symbol of Palestinian liberation for a long time, seized the main chamber on the second floor of the Bater Library in Colombia, according to the common photos on social media by CUAD.

Through the re -name of the “famous university of Basel”, some activists stood on offices with Bolhourins, while others suspended a sign that read “the strike for Gaza” and distributed the publications calling for the university to “strip” the money and companies that activists say is benefiting from Israel’s invasion of Jazza.

“We will not be useful intellectuals,” the demonstrators said in a joint online statement. “Palestine is our compass, and we stand strongly in the face of violent persecution.”

For the first time, the university sent public safety employees on the campus, who warned activists that they would face disciplinary measures and perhaps their arrest if they refuse to leave. The demonstrators said they refused to show their identity and described a physical confrontation between them and security officers. The university said that two public safety officers were injured, while the demonstrators reported that they were “two hooks” and closed at home.

“The request for the presence of the New York police is not the result that we wanted, but it was very necessary to secure the safety of our society,” Shaibman said in a statement, describing the demonstrators as “heinous.”

video Common on social media More than ten demonstrators, fired with the zip code links, led by police officers to the NYPD bus. Most of them wore kefyehs – a long -term black and white scarf A symbol of Palestinian identity. The daily spectator who runs the student I mentioned About 75 demonstrators were arrested.

At 6 pm EST, students received an alert that the library was closed and that the region “must be cleared.”

In an interview with a Affiliated with the local NBC On Wednesday evening, New York mayor Eric Adams described the protest as “unacceptable.” In a later statement, the mayor said he had received a “written request” from the university to obtain a backup copy of the police.

New York Governor Cathy HocholDemocracy said it was briefed on the situation and was “grateful for public safety officials to keep students safe.”

“Everyone has the right to protest safely. But violence, sabotage, or destruction of property is not fully acceptable,” she said in a statement.

The confrontation comes in a fragile moment for the university, as it faces a campaign by the Trump administration regarding its response to the students’ protests against the war in Gaza last spring. The administration accused the University of Failure to protect Jewish students from anti -Semitism on the campus and canceled $ 400 million in financing federal research from the school.

On Tuesday, the university announced a tour of the demobilization of workers as a result of discounts. University officials said they were working with the Trump administration in the hope of restoring funding.

Last spring, the demonstrators created a camp and seized Hamilton Hall, a building on the campus, which led to dozens of arrests and inspired similar demonstrations in universities throughout the country.

Since then, the university has undergone a series of leadership changes. In March, the temporary president of Colombia stepped down after agreeing to almost all Trump administration’s demands – a decision that angered faculty and critics who said the university had sacrificed its independence and academic freedom.

Among the changes was a ban on students who wear masks to hide their identities and the rule that those who protest on the campus should submit their identity upon request. The school also said that it had rented the new public safety officers who were enabled to conduct arrests on the campus.

The protest comes amid renewable tensions in American universities over the war in Gaza. In recent months, the Trump administration has launched a comprehensive campaign on students’ demonstrators participating in the campus protests last year, including Recently Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green card holder Columbia University The student who was arrested because of his activity, a Columbia University activist and the Palestinian activist Mahmoud KhalilWhich was arrested in March and He is still in reservation.

Robert Makki and Associated Press contributed to the reports