Police in riot gear storm into building held by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia: Updates

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on college campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war for Tuesday, April 30. For the latest news on the protests, view our live updates file for Wednesday, May 1.

NEW YORK ? Dozens of police in riot gear stormed into a building held by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University late Tuesday after a tense day that saw Mayor Eric Adams warn that "outside agitators" would be removed from campus.

City police in an armored vehicle used a mechanical ramp to enter Hamilton Hall through a window shortly after 9:30 p.m., as hundreds of protesters below looked on or were arrested by police on the ground. More than a dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators were taken away in zip-tie handcuffs as supporters screamed in outrage.

Protesters described chaos in the occupied building and elsewhere. “We’re trapped in a dorm,” student organizer Mohammad Hemeida wrote in a message to a USA TODAY reporter at the scene. A video he shared depicted police in helmets and nightsticks closing in on protesters. “NYPD barricaded us in with batons," he said.

Within minutes of the assault on the building, Columbia University officials said they had no choice but to request police intervention.

"We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions," the statement said. "After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation."

Adams had issued a stern warning earlier in the day that students at an encampment needed to leave right away – and advised their parents to urge them to do so – saying “external actors’’ have taken over the pro-Palestinian protest and must be removed.

“I’ve been saying for days if not weeks now that what should have been a peaceful protest has basically been co-opted by professional outside agitators,’’ said Adams, a former police officer. “Walk away from this situation now. We cannot wait until this situation becomes even more serious. This must end now."

Columbia protesters are demanding the school halt investments with companies profiting from Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, and they want amnesty for students and faculty involved in the protest. College campus demonstrations have been fueled by the civilian toll in Gaza, where more than 34,000 people have died since the Israeli invasion that followed a Hamas-led attack that killed almost 1,200 people in Israel.

Adams said the right to protest would be protected, but argued the agitators were taking advantage of the demonstrations to "create discord and division.''

The American Association of University Professors, Columbia University Chapter, released a statement as crowds and police massed in the area:

"At this hour, the NYPD is massing on barricaded streets outside the gates of Columbia University. Columbia faculty have spent the day offering our help to defuse the situation on Columbia’s campus and have been rebuffed or ignored," the statement said. "We have been locked out of our campus and have demanded to be allowed back in . . . This is not new. Columbia faculty have attempted for the past two weeks to intervene in the situation, only to be shut out by senior University leadership."

The statement added: "NYPD presence in our neighborhood endangers our entire community. Armed police entering our campus places students and everyone else on campus at risk."

Developments:

? Tuesday’s clearing of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University and the onslaught of officers came on the 56th anniversary of a police bust of a campus protest against racism and the Vietnam War. The university called in police on April 30, 1968, to clear five buildings occupied by student demonstrators, including Hamilton Hall, according to archives of the student newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator. Nearly 700 students and faculty were arrested, and more than 100 were injured, the Spectator reported.

? University of Southern California President Carol Folt had a second meeting with protesters from the encampment on the campus, but no agreement was reached. "We brought some very specific proposals that would address concerns they had about the endowment, which they have said is one of their most important issues," Folt said in a statement Tuesday. "Unfortunately, they seemed more interested in having me issue a political statement in support of their viewpoint as opposed to coming up with practical solutions to resolve the situation."

? The University of California, Los Angeles, has "significantly increased" security presence near a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus, Chancellor Gene D. Block said in a statement Tuesday. Block said the university has taken "several immediate actions" in response to demonstrations, including adding more law enforcement officers, safety personnel, and student affairs mitigators.

? Seventy-nine people were arrested in connection with a protest at the University of Texas, the Travis County sheriff’s office said Tuesday. Seventy-eight of those arrested were charged with criminal trespass, and one person received an additional charge of obstructing a highway or passageway.

? Officials at Portland State University in Oregon closed the campus Tuesday citing an "ongoing incident at library." The school asked police to help remove dozens of protesters occupying the building. Last week the university paused seeking or accepting gifts or grants from Boeing pending a review of weapons sales to Israel.

? Muslim leaders are condemning police removing the hijab from a woman who was arrested Saturday during demonstrations at Arizona State University, the Arizona Republic reported. The school said it's looking into the incident, which is regarded as a privacy violation for Muslim women.

City College of New York encampment cleared out by police

The City College of New York, a university within the City University of New York system, announced Tuesday that it is moving to remote learning starting Wednesday in response to the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests and encampment of demonstrators on the campus.

“This encampment, however, poses significantly different and heightened challenges,” City College President Vince Boudreau said in a statement Tuesday. “Most importantly, this is not primarily a CCNY demonstration, and perhaps not primarily a CUNY demonstration. The significant inclusion of unaffiliated external individuals means that we don’t have established connections to them.”

NYPD officers entered the campus late Tuesday after the university requested that police "enter the City College campus and take all necessary law enforcement action," according to a letter sent to NYPD.

Videos posted on X, formerly Twitter, by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry showed officers moving into the campus in large numbers and ordering individuals to leave the campus. “If you refuse to leave, you will be placed under arrest,” police warned.

Another video showed police entering the encampment as demonstrators appeared to form a human chain. Officers also appeared to remove a Palestinian flag from a flagpole on the campus and replace it with a United States flag, according to a video posted by Daughtry.

In a statement posted on Telegram late Tuesday, the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment urged the community to demand justice for “our comrades” and for the administration to meet its demands.

“As for CUNY Administration- we will never forget the levels of violence and brutality you deployed on working class students of color while defending the most horrific of crimes- you chose to be on the side of genocide and violence, we chose to be on the side of liberation and freedom,” the CUNY Gaza Solidarity Encampment said.

NYPD requested to remain on Columbia campus through May 17

Columbia University leaders said they believe that the group that broke into and occupied Hamilton Hall was led by people not affiliated with the university.

"Sadly, this dangerous decision followed more than a week of what had been productive discussions" with student protesters, they said. "The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law."

University President Minouche Shafik on Tuesday sent a letter to the NYPD requesting that police remain on campus through at least May 17 to "maintain order and ensure encampments are not re-established."

Throughout the day Tuesday, the city looked poised to intervene. A huge deployment of officers from the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group descended just outside the Columbia campus by late afternoon, a clear indication of law enforcement action to come.

By 9:05 p.m., police had blocked off both sides of Columbia University along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. On Broadway, police in helmets, batons and zip tie cuffs stood by as streets were at a standstill in both directions. “This is a siege,” a speaker inside campus gates yelled from a megaphone.

A message blared over a loudspeaker around 9:15 p.m., telling people they were unlawfully demonstrating and that they would be arrested if they refused to move. Large swaths of protesters formed lines blocking the fence leading into campus grounds. Within five minutes, police began to make arrests.

'Sparked a national and even international movement'

Columbia alumnus Dylan Stillwood, 43, wore a keffiyeh and stood in the rain near barricades after watching police buses full of detained people leave campus. He said his alma mater’s actions were "disgusting" as it called police on students for a second time since April 18, when police arrested over 100 people.

He had visited the encampment many times in support and described it as peaceful and informative.

“It sparked a national and even international movement,” Stillwood said. “You can’t make a just cause go away through brute force. You can try to make it go away. But at the end of the day, I think something has changed.”

Columbia says it will expel some students, suspend others

Columbia administrators said late Tuesday afternoon they would follow through on plans to suspend some students and expel others as dozens remain in lawn encampments protesting Israel and its war in Gaza while dozens more are occupying Hamilton Hall.

University spokesperson Ben Chang outlined actions taken in the last day, including offering students to clear the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment'' by Monday afternoon or risk suspension. Chang said those who vandalized property, breaking doors and windows in taking over Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning, would face expulsion. He also said protesters have created an unsafe and threatening environment for Jewish students and faculty in violation of civil rights laws, as well as a noisy distraction.

“We are following through with the consequences. ... We are taking into account how daily life here has been disrupted,” said Chang, who reaffirmed the university’s commitment to safety as student demonstrators have escalated actions to what he called an “untenable'' level.

Columbia severely restricted access to campus Tuesday after demonstrators seized an academic building and blocked the entrance with a human chain. The school also suspended graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, lead negotiator for Columbia University Apartheid Divest in talks with the administration that have failed to resolve the crisis.

“Yet again, this shows the randomness and the arbitrary measures the university is taking against students," he told USA TODAY.

Classes canceled at UNC; protesters replace US flag with Palestinian one

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled classes Tuesday afternoon, the last day of instruction in the spring semester, after police responded to a pro-Palestinian protest.

The school sent out an "Adverse Conditions'' alert at 3:16 p.m. ET saying "classes are canceled for the remainder of the day, and non-mandatory operations are suspended.'' Non-essential staff were told not to report for work or otherwise come to campus.

The student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, reported student protesters replaced an American flag that flew on a large pole in the university’s Polk Place courtyard with a Palestinian flag, which police later took down.

A university administrator led dozens of police officers to the site of a pro-Palestinian demonstration, where students linked arms and encircled the flagpole, video and photos posted online by the Daily Tar Heel show.

Earlier in the day, dozens of protesters were detained as police began breaking down the "Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment" after school officials demanded demonstrators remove the tents and leave the area.

Negotiations over occupation have stalled, student group says

The Columbia University Apartheid Divestment group said Tuesday afternoon that negotiations between administrators and the approximately 60 protesters in a campus building have stalled.

Palestinian students, including a student-appointed negotiator, have been temporarily suspended in the past 12 hours, CUAD said. The group also said Columbia tracked which students swiped into a campus library during a certain timeframe as a way to identify student protesters.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are worried about the university calling riot police to Hamilton Hall after protesters seized the building overnight, the student group said.

Columbia protesters rally inside and outside gates

Hundreds of people rallied outside of Columbia’s shuttered campus gates Tuesday afternoon in support of protesters opposed to the war, near where students are occupying Hamilton Hall. The rally occurred by the only entrance to campus.Inside the gates, a few dozen demonstrators led the rally with megaphones, drums and claps as those outside responded behind police barricades while officers stood watch on Amsterdam Avenue.“We want justice now, you say how,” one speaker chanted, with the crowd replying, “End the siege of Gaza now. End the siege of Columbia now.”At one point, someone waved a large Palestinian flag from the top of Hamilton Hall. The crowd celebrated, and police drones buzzed above.

Barricades, checkpoints, restricted access at Columbia

Blocks surrounding Columbia's campus in Manhattan were a maze of metal barricades Tuesday afternoon as the administration’s closure of campus dragged on.

Students with dorms on campus asked security guards at checkpoints whether they would be allowed back in if they left, and some faculty members complained they could not access campus Tuesday afternoon.

Police officers looked on as a group of pro-Palestinian protesters led rounds of chants outside the school’s ornate gates around 1:30 p.m. A smaller group of counterdemonstrators also held signs denouncing Hamas and calling for Israeli hostages to be released.

University threatens to expel students occupying building

Columbia's administration said Tuesday afternoon its top priority is restoring safety and order on campus. Spokesperson Ben Chang said protesters have chosen to escalate actions to an “untenable situation” by vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows and blocking entrances to Hamilton Hall. The student encampment, in the center of campus, still remained Tuesday afternoon.

“Students occupying the building face expulsion,” he said in an update. “Protesters were informed that their participation in the encampment violated numerous university policies. We gave everyone at the encampment the opportunity to leave peacefully.”

Students who didn’t commit to terms, which were distributed Monday, are now being suspended. Seniors are ineligible to graduate. Commencement ceremonies are still set for May 15.

“This is about responding to the actions of the protesters, not their cause,” Chang said.

White House denounces protest occupations

The White House on Tuesday condemned the surge in protests that seize and occupy university buildings, which includes not only Columbia but also Cal Poly Humboldt in Northern California, where an occupation was broken up Tuesday.

White House spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration was monitoring the escalating protests on U.S. campuses. "The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach. That is not an example of peaceful protests," Kirby said at a briefing.

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement that Biden has always condemned "repugnant, antisemitic smears and violent rhetoric," adding that Biden respects freedom of expression but believes protests must be lawful. "Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful, it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America," Bates said.

Organizers say protesters are peacefully supporting Palestinians and that some Jewish students have joined their movement. But there has been evidence of antisemitic sentiment and even calls to violence among some of the chants and signs, creating a hostile environment that prompted Columbia to offer classes remotely. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained of "antisemitic mobs'' taking over schools, while Hamas called the demonstrations a "rejection of the genocide'' of Palestinians.

Schumer rips campus protests that 'veer into criminality'

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia during a floor speech Tuesday.

"Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech, it is lawlessness," he said. "Campuses cannot be places of learning and argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality, and those who commit such acts are doing nothing to convince others that their cause is just."

He added it is "unacceptable" for students to be targeted for being Jewish or for protests to glorify "the murderous and hateful Hamas or the violence of Oct. 7."

Schumer ? the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history ? called last month for Israel to hold new elections. It was at the time the sharpest criticism yet from a top Democrat of Netanyahu's government and prompted blowback from Israeli officials and Republican lawmakers.

? Riley Beggin

Education secretary: 'What’s happening on our campuses is abhorrent'

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, speaking at a Senate budget hearing Tuesday morning, condemned reports of antisemitic incidents on college campuses and pointed to his agency’s pending civil rights investigation into Columbia. “What's happening on our campuses is abhorrent,” he said. “Hate has no place on our campuses and I'm very concerned with the reports of antisemitism.”

Cardona said the Education Department has more than 100 pending civil rights probes investigating allegations of discrimination, including antisemitic and anti-Muslim harassment.

Columbia, like many schools, will likely settle its civil rights case with the department. In recent days, Republican lawmakers have floated the idea of pulling the university’s federal funding for failing to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws. Experts say that’s highly unlikely.

? Zachary Schermele

35 arrested at Northern California university

Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, California, said Tuesday its campus will be closed until May 10 after law enforcement began "a series of actions to restore order." Two buildings were cleared and secured and 35 people arrested, the school said in a statement. Protesters for more than a week had occupied Siemans Hall, an administrative building that includes the president's office, renaming it "Intifada Hall." The school dismissed freedom of expressions claims of the protesters, calling their actions "criminal activity."

“This is a difficult day, it breaks my heart to see it, and truly nobody wanted to see things come to this," school president Tom Jackson said.

The statement said the school made repeated efforts to resolve the situation and that "this morning’s enforcement action was determined to be necessary to restore order and to address the lawlessness and dangerous conditions that had developed."

In Lebanon, solidarity with US students

Hundreds of students gathered Tuesday at university campuses across Lebanon to protest Israel's war, a movement participants said was inspired by U.S. protests. Students, alumni and other Lebanese gathered at campuses in the capital Beirut and elsewhere waved Palestinian flags and posters demanding their universities boycott companies that do business in Israel.

Rayyan Kilani, 21, who is graduating this semester from the American University of Beirut, said students had decided it was worth risking their degrees to show support for the embattled people of Gaza.

"Looking at the Palestinians in Gaza and students in Gaza that lost their universities, their lives and their families,'' she said. "A degree would not matter to us as much as a liberated Palestine."

Jewish leaders call for more aggressive action against antisemitism

Jewish leaders on Monday urged Columbia officials to take stronger action against antisemitism on campuses. Kraft Center for Jewish Life hosted a Friday press conference featuring Columbia/Barnard Hillel Lavine Family executive director Brian Cohen, joined by other advocacy group leaders and students from Columbia, Brown University and Rutgers University. Cohen said it was "sobering and disappointing" that the events of recent days necessitated the leaders to speak out.

"The situation we are seeing on our campus and dozens of other campuses around the country stem from decades of decisions by administrators that have slowly eroded campus climate," Cohen said. He said students have a right to protest and to say things he does not agree with. But he urged schools to "uphold your codes of conduct, enforce your rules and hold students who violate them responsible in real and consequential ways."

Police dismantle encampment at University of Utah

Police dismantled an encampment and dispersed protesters at the University of Utah late Monday after a rally that drew more than 300 people outside an administration building at the campus in Salt Lake City. Officers removed and dismantled about a dozen tents, stashes of water bottles, food and toilet paper as some protesters took down their own tents and drove away, the school said in a statement.

“Utah college campuses around the state are not exempt from the significant unrest that currently exists in our country and world,” said Keith Squires, the school's chief safety officer. “Campuses serve as a stage and forum for not just students, but for members of the community who want their voice to be heard. We honor all voices, but the right to speech on our campus must occur within the confines of state law and campus policies.”

Columbia suspends protesting students: Demonstrators take over university building

What are college protests across the US about?

The student protesters opposed to Israel's military attacks in Gaza say they want their schools to stop funneling endowment money to Israeli companies and other businesses, like weapons manufacturers, that profit from the war in Gaza. In addition to divestment, protesters are calling for a cease-fire, and student governments at some colleges have also passed resolutions in recent weeks calling for an end to academic partnerships with Israel. The protesters also want the U.S. to stop supplying funding and weapons to the war effort.

More recently, amnesty for students and professors involved in the protests has become an issue. Protesters want protections amid threats of disciplinary action and termination for those participating in demonstrations that violate campus policy or local laws.

Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY; Skye Seipp, Austin American-Statesman; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: University protests updates: Mayor Adams warns 'walk away now'