NYPD Clears Gaza Protest Encampment At Columbia And Arrests Students—One Day After University President Testified To Congress

Topline

Police officers cleared out an encampment of students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza on Columbia University’s campus on Thursday and took students into custody, the New York Police Department said, as the university cracks down on the massive protest that broke out the same day President Nemat Shafik testified before Congress on campus antisemitism.

Columbia President Nemat Shafik said the encampment “severely disrupts campus life.” Associated Press

Key Facts

NYPD officers in riot gear began clearing the encampment shortly after 1 p.m., the New York Times reported, with officers reportedly placing nearly all the students at the encampment in zip ties and loading them onto buses.

Protesters are currently being taken into custody and no charges have been filed yet, the NYPD told Forbes, noting police do not currently know how many students have been detained.

“The current campus encampment violates all of the new policies, severely disrupts campus life, and creates a harassing and intimidating environment for many of our students,” Shafik wrote in an email to students on Thursday, but also said “these are steps I deeply regret having to take.”

Earlier on Thursday morning, Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said she was suspended by Columbia’s Barnard College for her involvement in the protests, but she also stated she would “not be intimidated” and the protesters would “stand resolute until our demands are met”—it is currently unclear if Hirsi was among the students who were arrested.

Crucial Quote

“Protests have a storied history at Columbia and are an essential component of free speech in America and on our campus,” Shafik wrote in an email obtained by Forbes that was sent to students and faculty on Thursday. Columbia was previously the site of major protests against segregation and the Vietnam War during the student movement in the 1960s. “We work hard to balance the rights of students to express political views with the need to protect other students from rhetoric that amounts to harassment and discrimination.”

Tangent

Many university campuses have faced tense protests since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, but some protesters have faced allegations of antisemitic rhetoric. The presidents of Harvard University, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania testified about their campuses’ climate before the House in December, months before Shafik’s testimony, often leading to sparring between the academic leaders and lawmakers. The presidents of MIT and Penn resigned shortly after the testimony, and Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned after allegations of plagiarism were levied against her one month later

Key Background

The encampment was erected around 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning on the south lawn of the Ivy League college’s Morningside Heights campus, the student newspaper Columbia Spectator reported. The university ordered the encampment to disperse Wednesday night, and offered amnesty to any student protesters who left before 9 p.m. The same day, Shafik testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee about antisemitism on campus. At the hearing, Shafik said antisemitism “has no place on our campus” and told legislators addressing the concerns was their “highest priority right now at Columbia.”

Further Reading

MORE FROM FORBESHarvard President Admits Spike In Campus Antisemitism At House HearingBy Brian Bushard