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Wednesday 1 May 2024 - 08:44

US Police Attack, Arrest Pro Palestine Protesters at Columbia University

Story Code : 1132306
US Police Attack, Arrest Pro Palestine Protesters at Columbia University
Police in riot gear entered Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall and used flash bangs when breaching the building, in which pro-Palestinian protesters had barricaded themselves.

At least 50 officers used an elevated ramp to climb into the building through a second-floor window. Most were wearing helmets and some were carrying heavy-duty bolt cutters and flexi-cuffs — a zip-tie-like restraint cuff.

Less than two hours after officers entered the school’s campus in Morningside Heights, Columbia University’s property was cleared.

“Shame! shame!” jeered many on-looking undergrads still outside on campus.

The United States has been gripped by a massive wave of campus protests against “Israel’s” genocidal war on Gaza.

Earlier on Tuesday, Columbia University threatened academic expulsion of students who took over a campus building, as tensions between authorities and anti-war activists intensified.

New York City's mayor declared "this must end now."

Students at Colombia University are facing expulsion threats as tensions between authorities and anti-war activists intensify.

University officials issued the threats after protesters broke into an academic building called Hamilton Hall overnight.

They unfurled a banner reading "Hind's Hall" while barricading themselves inside.

The move was a show of resentment over the killing of a six-year-old Palestinian child by the same name in the Gaza Strip.

Outside the eight-story, protesters blocked the entrance with tables, linked arms to form a barricade and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.

New York congressman Jamaal Bowman said he was “outraged” by the level of police presence at Columbia and other New York universities. He said on X: “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.”

Bowman has called on the Columbia administration to stop the “dangerous escalation before it leads to further harm” and allow faculty back on to campus.

Separately, the New York Times reported dozens of arrests at City College of New York, part of the City University of New York system [CUNY], when some students left Columbia and moved north to the campus where a protest sit-in was still in effect.
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