Columbia unleashes police on Student Spring protesters, 100+ arrested

New York police have taken more than 100 students, staff and activists into custody, according to multiple reports, after Columbia University called in police to end sit-in by students who pioneered a pro-Palestine campus encampment movement — or Student Spring protests — which has engulfed universities across US and beyond.

The scene unfolded shortly after 9 pm [local time] late on Tuesday as police, wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and riot shields, entered the Ivy League university.

Officers breached Hamilton Hall, an administration building on campus, to clear out the structure. The hall has been symbolically renamed by protesters as "Hind Hall" in memory of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab who was reportedly shot dead by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza.

A long line of police officers were seen climbing into the building through a second-story window, using a vehicle with a ladder to gain access to the upper floor.

Dozens of other officers swarmed over the nearby protest encampment, as onlooking students standing just outside the campus jeered them with shouts of "Shame, shame!" Before long, officers were seen leading handcuffed protesters to police vehicles outside campus gates.

"Free, free, free Palestine," chanted protesters outside the building. Others yelled "Let the students go".

Columbia University's president asked New York police to remain on the prestigious institution's campus until May 17, a letter showed.

The letter signed by Minouche Shafik requested police "help to clear" the protest sites on campus, and "retain a presence on campus through at least May 17, 2024 to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished."

At an evening news briefing held a few hours before police entered Columbia, Mayor Eric Adams and city police officials said the Hamilton Hall takeover was instigated by "outside agitators" who lack any affiliation with Columbia and are known to law enforcement for provoking lawlessness.

One of the student leaders of the protest, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian scholar attending Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs on a student visa, disputed assertions that outsiders had initiated the occupation.

"They're students," he told the Reuters news agency.

Earlier, the University threatened to expel students.

"We will remain here, drawing from the lessons of our people [in Gaza] that stay put, and hold their ground even under the worst conditions," a protester wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh headscarf and who declined to give her name told reporters outside "Hind Hall".

President Joe Biden's White House sharply criticised the seizure of Hamilton Hall, with a spokesman saying it was "absolutely the wrong approach" as police patrolled street entrances to the prestigious New York university.

The occupation at Columbia — where student protesters had shrugged off an earlier ultimatum to abandon a tent encampment on Monday or be suspended — unfolded as other top US universities stepped up efforts to end the protests.

Police swept through some campuses, leading to confrontations and arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life.

The office of the UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, meanwhile, expressed concern about "heavy-handed steps" taken to dismantle protests on US campuses.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters that "it is up to the university authorities to have the wisdom to properly manage situations like the ones we have witnessed."

The nationwide campus protests began in response to Israel's relentless bombing in besieged Gaza since October 2023.

More than 34,535 Palestinians — 70% of them babies, children and women have been killed so far. Over 77,704 are wounded while close to 8,400 people are feared buried under the rubble of bombed buildings.

Israel and its supporters have falsely branded the university protests as anti-Semitic. Organisers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.