Anti-Israel protesters spark chaos at Columbia University graduation with diploma burning, aggressive chants
At least two anti-Israel protesters were arrested outside Columbia University during its annual commencement ceremony, as the NYPD tussled with a few dozen rowdy demonstrators across the street from the school's main entrance.
The ceremony — attended by some 37,000 people — went relatively smoothly inside the gates, though acting President Claire Shipman's commencement address was drowned out by raucous chants demanding the release of former graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained by ICE agents in March and is currently awaiting deportation.
Outside the campus gates, however, some newly minted grads torched their diplomas in protest, loudly booing, chanting and brandishing signs denouncing Israel for alleged 'atrocities' committed in its war against Hamas. Cops were called to the scene to maintain order, but the NYPD couldn't immediately confirm who summoned them to the Morningside Heights campus.
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Khalil, a spokesman for the radical Columbia University Apartheid Divest group (CUAD), is slated for deportation by the Trump administration for allegedly engaging in activities 'aligned to Hamas.'
3 Cardboard lit on fire during the commencement ceremony.
Adam Gray for the NYPost
3 Columbia students ripped up their diplomas at the graduation.
Adam Gray for the NYPost
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CUAD put out a call on social media ahead of Wednesday's graduation pledging to disrupt the ceremony.
'WEAR A MASK! GET LOUD! BRING NOISE! NO COMMENCEMENT AS USUAL UNDER GENOCIDE!' the group wrote in an X post Tuesday.
3 Students were arrested and escorted into police vans.
Adam Gray for the NYPost
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Last year's commencement was canceled over safety concerns after an anti-Israel encampment protest engulfed the campus for weeks during the spring.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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