U.S. Reps. AOC, Jamaal Bowman slam police response
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, both D-N.Y., criticized the police response at Columbia tonight in separate statements, with Ocasio-Cortez also faulting Mayor Eric Adams.
“I am outraged by the level of police presence called upon nonviolent student protestors on Columbia and CCNY’s campuses,” Bowman said in a statement. “As an educator who has first hand experience with the over-policing of our schools, this is personal to me.”
He added: “Educational institutions should be spaces to nurture critical thinking skills and learn to work together with diverse communities to enact a more just and peaceful world. The militarization of college campuses, extensive police presence, and arrest of hundreds of students are in direct opposition to the role of education as a cornerstone of our democracy.”
Ocasio-Cortez meanwhile said that if any “kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall” on Adams and university presidents.
“Other leaders and schools have found a safe, de-escalatory path,” she said, most likely referring to Brown University. “This is the opposite of leadership and endangers public safety. A nightmare in the making.”
She urged Adams to reverse course.
Columbia unrest echoes chaotic campus protest movement of 1968
The tumult at Columbia University has seized national attention, providing for many young Americans an emotionally fraught introduction to heated student activism. But the unrest engulfing the Ivy League campus in upper Manhattan is also intensely familiar.
Fifty-six years ago, Columbia students furious over the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the school’s plans to build a segregated gym in nearby Morningside Park decided to take over Hamilton Hall, an academic building on the main campus. Overnight, pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed and occupied the same building, with some drawing direct parallels between their activism and the legacy of 1968.
The sociopolitical conflicts at the root of the two protest eras are not precisely the same, however — and in today’s campus environment, students are also sounding the alarm about a sharp uptick in both antisemitism and Islamophobia since Oct 7. But some of the students involved in the activism at Columbia have nonetheless sought to present their political agitation as a direct continuation of late ’60s change-making.
Columbia asks NYPD to be on campus until May 17
University President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik is asking the NYPD to have a presence on campus through at least May 17.
In a letter asking for police help in clearing occupied Hamilton Hall as well as protest encampments, Shafik referenced an earlier police action that cleared an encampment and led to more than 100 arrests. Protesters then set up a new encampment.
“In light of the activities that occurred after the events of April 17-18, 2024, we further request that you retain a presence on campus through at least May 17, 2024 to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished,” Shafik wrote.
Columbia’s commencement is scheduled for May 15. An estimated 15,000 students are set to graduate, the university has said.
Someone hid in Hamilton Hall to allow others in before takeover, Columbia says
A person hid inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall yesterday to later let protesters in to take over the building, Columbia’s president said in a letter to the NYPD asking for assistance.
The NYPD has moved onto campus, and officers were seen entering Hamilton Hall, which was taken over and barricaded early this morning.
“The building was closed at the time the students entered. An individual hid in the building until after it closed and let the other individuals in,” President Minouche Shafik said in a letter asking for police help.
“There were two security guards inside. We were able to secure their release. We believe that while the group who broke into the building includes students, it is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University,” Shafik wrote.
“The individuals who have occupied Hamilton Hall have vandalized University property and are trespassing,” she said in the letter.
She wrote that "we request the NYPD’s help to clear all individuals from Hamilton Hall and all campus encampments."
Protesters detained outside Hamilton Hall
Several protesters were apprehended outside Hamilton Hall tonight.
Police officers in riot gear were leading protesters, whose hands seemed to be tied behind their backs with zip ties, away from the building.
Early this morning a group of people took over the campus building and barricaded themselves inside.
Columbia University: We were left with no choice
After the NYPD entered campus tonight, Columbia blamed the actions of protesters for the situation.
“We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” the university said in a statement.
Columbia said it asked the NYPD to intervene.
“We believe that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University,” it said.
Police went on campus shortly after 9 p.m., it said.
People who occupied Columbia’s Hamilton Hall face burglary charge, NYPD says
Those inside Hamilton Hall will be charged with third-degree burglary, criminal mischief and trespassing, an NYPD official said at a news conference this evening before officers arrived on campus.
Mayor Eric Adams and others blamed outside agitators unaffiliated with Columbia for some of the destructive protests and urged students and protesters to leave.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said that “what we saw last night and into today is not acceptable.”
“We have seen professional, external actors getting involved in these protests, including the occupation of a university building,” he said.
Those in the encampments, not in the hall, could be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct, police said.
Lights coming back on in Hamilton Hall
Lights could be seen coming back on in Hamilton Hall as NYPD officers made their way into the occupied building from the back.
More than a dozen officers entered the building from the ground. Other officers had entered the building through a second-story window.
Police use ramp to access 2nd-floor window
The NYPD appears to be using a vehicle with a ramp to get a second-floor window of Hamilton Hall.
An officer with a ballistic shield was against the window, and others were shining flashlights inside.
Protesters screamed “Shame on you!” and “Fall!” as the officer entered.
A line of officers then used the ramp to enter the building.
A group that took over the campus building early this morning has barricaded itself inside.
Protesters outside campus placed in zip ties
Just before New York police officers entered campus, officers began warning protesters outside that they would be arrested if they did not disperse.
And shortly after the warning, several protesters were seen being placed in zip ties.
As officers warned the group to disperse, some members lifted police barricades to try to prevent officers from entering a protest outside the gates of the university.