Over 50 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Columbia University
New York Police arrested dozens of students from Columbia University for staging pro-Palestinian protest and seizing part of the university's main library on Wednesday, in one of the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations held on the campus since last year's wave of protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
At least 50 students were seen loaded into vans and buses of the New York Police Department outside of the Butler Library with their hands cuffed with plastic zip-ties, as police rounded up other protesters in the six-story building who refused to leave.
A BBC report stated that two university security officers were injured when protesters barged their way into the Butler Library on Wednesday, University President Claire Shipman in a statement said, calling the protesters actions 'outrageous'.
Anti-Israel, pro-Palestine protesters have taken over Columbia University's library. All of these people, if they are students, should be immediately expelled: pic.twitter.com/IsJuZi4JTQ
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 7, 2025
Videos on social media showed protesters wearing masks, standing on tables, chanting with banners reading 'Strike For Gaza' and 'Liberated Zone'.
We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University's library.
Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 8, 2025
US President Donald Trump had earlier blasted Columbia University over pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year, stating that they were anti-semitic and the university showed a failure to protect Jewish students.
At the direct request of Columbia University, the NYPD is responding to an ongoing situation on campus where individuals have occupied a library and are trespassing.
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 7, 2025
Columbia University on Wednesday had requested the NYPD's assistance 'in securing the building,' as protesters had barged into the library with banners. According to Columbia Spectator, which is a campus newspaper, about 70 protesters were detained by police.
In a post on X, NYPD stated 'At the direct request of Columbia University, the NYPD is responding to an ongoing situation on campus where individuals have occupied a library and are trespassing.'
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they are 'reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University's library.'
Columbia's President Shipman said that while the protesters were seized up in one room of the library, 'it is completely unacceptable that some individuals are choosing to disrupt academic activities as our students are studying and preparing for final exams'.
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