Columbia University limits campus access following protests, dozens in custody

CBS News

08-05-2025

Dozens of people taken into custody at Columbia protest
Dozens of people taken into custody at Columbia protest
Dozens of people taken into custody at Columbia protest
Dozens of people were taken into custody during protests at Columbia University on Wednesday, and the school is once again limiting access to its campus.
Only those with a university ID or approved faculty guests will be allowed past checkpoints Thursday, according to a message on the school's website. All other visitors, including alumni, will not.
Columbia's safety protocols outline three levels of campus access: "O" for open, "I" for ID only and "R" for restricted. The campus is currently at the second level, "I."
Butler Library, where the protest took place, reopened Thursday, as students are studying for their final exams, Columbia's Acting President Claire Shipman wrote in an update.
Rubio says feds are reviewing Columbia protesters' visas
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the protest, saying the federal government will be reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over the school's campus library in Morningside Heights.
Rubio has called for Columbia graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil to be deported, in part, for his role in last year's campus protests. Khalil, who is a legal permanent resident and has not been charged with a crime, was taken into custody in March and remains in an ICE detention center in Louisiana, along with Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk.
Another Columbia activist, Mohsen Mahdawi, was also taken into custody, but was released last week.
In a memorandum filed in Khalil's case, Rubio did not cite specific evidence against the 30-year-old but argued that he is deportable under a statute in federal immigration law that says the government is entitled to deport noncitizens whose presence in the country damages national foreign policy interests.
"The foreign policy of the United States champions core American interests and American citizens," Rubio wrote last month, "and condoning anti-Semitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective."
Rubio said in March that at least 300 students had their visas rescinded after they were accused of expressing support for Palestinians or participating in campus protests.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take over room in Butler Library
Columbia's acting president said she was forced to call in the NYPD on Wednesday night after Pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed Butler Library and refused to leave, despite repeated orders.
Cellphone video showed protestors, many in masks, forcing their way inside, where they vandalized property and took over a reading room, as students were studying for final exams.
University officials say at least two campus safety officers were injured during a crowd surge, as more people tried forcing their way in. CBS News New York saw two people leaving in an ambulance.
"A group of protesters occupied one of the main reading rooms in Butler library, refusing to leave, and another group breached the front door causing substantial chaos—all of this as the bulk of our students are working hard to prepare for exams," Shipman said in a video message Wednesday night. "These actions not only represented a violation of University policies, but they also posed a serious risk to our students and campus safety."
As the confrontation escalated inside, Pro-Palestinian demonstrators also clashed with police on the outskirts of campus, pushing barricades and shutting down the block.
A student group affiliated with protestors posted a message reading in part, "Safety officers have choked and beaten us. But we have not wavered. We refuse to show our ids under militarized arrest."
The NYPD took at least 80 people into custody.
The university's acting president said the administration believes a significant portion of protestors were not affiliated with the university.