FOX 5 New York
The New York Police Department took charge of Columbia University Tuesday night, using force to reclaim an academic building seized by violent pro-Palestinian protesters while making dozens of arrests.
Hundreds of NYPD officers in riot gear marched onto the Ivy League school’s main campus in Manhattan to remove the agitators who just one day earlier had smashed their way into Hamilton Hall, assuming control over the building.
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Check out this dramatic video … a bunch of cops wearing helmets climbed up a ladder to a second-floor window and crawled inside the building with zip-tie handcuffs.
While entering the building, the officers deployed four devices that distracted the protesters with very loud bangs.
Within an hour, cops had taken back the building and hauled away numerous demonstrators, loading them into three NYPD buses.
The exact number of people arrested and their potential charges were not yet known, although some media outlets reported that around 100 people were apprehended.
NYPD officers also cleared out the rest of the student protesters from their small tent city on the campuses’ South Lawn, bringing order back to the college.
As we previously reported … a mob of student demonstrators broke into Hamilton Hall Monday night, shattering windows on their way inside to take control of the building.
They were part of a larger group of protesters angry over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that has claimed the lives of scores of Palestinians.
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The demonstrators believe Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, who are ruled by Hamas in the region. Hamas sparked the conflict after their October 7th sneak attack on the Jewish state, killing more than 1,200 Israelis.
Over the past two weeks, the demonstrators antagonized Jewish students and demanded Columbia’s leadership divest from Israel-related interests … but the university’s president, Dr. Minouche Shafik, said she wouldn’t do that.
Columbia administrators also threatened to suspend the pro-Palestinian students who failed to protest peacefully and promised to expel those who occupied Hamilton Hall.
Similar violent protests have sprung up at colleges across the country.
