'This Must End Now': NYPD Raids Columbia Campus Protests

Updated 9:46 p.m.

NEW YORK CITY — A swarm of NYPD cops raided Columbia University's campus in a bid to break up pro-Palestinian demonstrations and free an academic building occupied by protesters, according to a flurry of social media posts late Tuesday.

"Absolutely insane footage of the NYPD entering Columbia University," one tweet states. "It's endless."

The crackdown came after Mayor Eric Adams contended that "outside agitators" had hijacked otherwise lawful, peaceful protests against the war in Gaza on the Ivy League campus.

Columbia University officials had given police permission to enter the private campus that evening, CBS New York reported.

Details about the raid were still unfolding as of publication, but reporters on campus posted that NYPD officers were making arrests.

Video posted by reporter Liam Quigley showed police use a crane or ladder truck to break into windows at Hamilton Hall, the building that protesters had occupied starting early Tuesday.

Updated 9:02 p.m.

NEW YORK CITY — NYPD officers massed outside Columbia University after Mayor Eric Adams contended protests on the campus had been hijacked by "outside agitators" intent on chaos.

Adams, in a late Tuesday news conference alongside NYPD brass, said the escalating situation — including the occupation of Hamilton Hall — had been fueled by "external actors."

"They're not here to promote peace or unity or allow a peaceful displaying of one voice," he said.

"This must end now."

People occupying Hamilton Hall could face charges of burglary in third degree, criminal mischief and trespassing, said Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of operations. Students in encampments on the campus could face trespassing charges, he said.

As evidence, NYPD officials showed video of people clad in black on campus who they contended — without providing specifics — had been involved in escalating other protests.

Adams had previously openly speculated that the Columbia protests had somehow been organized by parties outside the campus, without providing evidence other than there were similar tents in the encampment. Those tents turned out to be among the cheapest options available online.

Hizzoner held the news conference without Columbia officials requesting the NYPD to clear the protests.

But NYPD officers were seen gathering outside campus late Tuesday, prompting speculation a crackdown was imminent. Students were told to shelter in place by an email from Columbia, according to the Columbia Spectator student newspaper.

Updated 3:44 p.m.

NEW YORK CITY — Columbia University students occupying the school's Hamilton Hall in a widening pro-Palestinian protest face expulsion, officials said.

The occupation began early Tuesday after university leaders followed through on threats to suspend students who flouted a deadline to clear an encampment on the Ivy League school's campus.

Protest organizers argued that the school's actions led an "autonomous group" to escalate by occupying the building, but school leaders slammed the action as an unsafe escalation.

"Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation — vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances — and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday," said Ben Chang, a university spokesperson, in a statement.

"Students occupying the building face expulsion.

Mayor Eric Adams during a Tuesday news conference also deemed the occupation an escalation, but said it didn't warrant sending in the National Guard, as House Speaker Mike Johnson argued was necessary.

"We don't need the National Guard," Adams said. "The NYPD is doing an amazing job and the right balance that’s what needed."

But Hizzoner appeared to leave the door open to deploying the NYPD onto campus — an action he stressed could only be taken at the request of school leaders.

"We cannot allow the elevation of actions like that," he said about the occupation.

"We're going to communicate with Columbia and make the determination of what the next steps are that we're going to institute."

9:27 a.m. Pro-Palestinian protesters stormed and occupied a Columbia University academic building after officials began to suspend students involved in a weeks-long encampment.

Video shows a man early Tuesday use a hammer to smash windows at the school's Hamilton Hall, which students took over, barricaded and renamed "Hind's Hall" in honor of 6-year-old girl who died in the Israel-Gaza war.

Protest organizers — who said in a statement that an "autonomous group" took over Hamilton Hall — argued Columbia administrators had forced protesters to escalate.

"This university repeatedly endangers its students by instituting a police state with military-style checkpoints, repressing and isolating students on campus, calling armed riot cops for the largest mass arrests on campus since 1968, and weaponizing food insecurity and houselessness as leverage in negotiations," the statement reads.

PRESS RELEASE by @ColumbiaBDS about the occupation of Hamilton Hall. An autonomous group of students reclaimed the building as “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab, a six year old girl from Gaza. We continue to stand in solidarity with Palestinian Liberation. ❤️‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/LIm8cScPpD
— Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (@ColumbiaSJP) April 30, 2024

After students took over Hamilton Hall, Columbia officials announced they were restricting access to the Morningside campus.

Only students living in university residential buildings and employees who provide essential services would have access, officials said.

"The only access point into and out of campus is the 116th Street and Amsterdam gate," a statement from the school states. "All other campus entry points are closed."

"This access restriction will remain in place until circumstances allow otherwise."