Hundreds of students and faculty gathered hours before Shafik’s testimony on Wednesday, setting up tents in Columbia University’s South Lawn. Competing pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies grew throughout the day. The student-run Columbia Spectatorthat the university administration planned to suspend anyone who remained in the encampment after 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
“I regret that all of these attempts to resolve the situation were rejected by the students involved,” university president Minouche Shafik said in a message to students. “As a result, NYPD officers are now...More than 100 protesters were cuffed and hauled away from Columbia University when NYPD cops in riot gear swarmed the campus Thursday after the president made the bombshell decision to clear a large anti-Israel protest encampment.
A huge crowd of other demonstrators then defiantly swarmed to the police vehicles to temporarily block them from leaving the scene.