![\"Police](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e753ab61689390843e5de85eae699a9e2b6d640c\/0_0_4500_3000\/master\/4500.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none\")
<\/a>\u201cWe\u2019re clearing it out,\u201d police yelled as they marched up to the barricaded entrance to the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShame! Shame!\u201d jeered many onlooking students still outside on campus.One protester at Columbia, who only gave their name as Sophie, told the Guardian that police had barricaded protesters inside buildings before making arrests. \u201cIt will not be forgotten,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is no longer an Israel-Palestine issue. It\u2019s a human rights and free speech and a Columbia student issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The police operation, which was largely over within a couple of hours, follow nearly two weeks of tensions, with pro-Palestinian protesters at the university ignoring an ultimatum on Monday to abandon their encampment or risk suspension. On Tuesday, Columbia University officials threatened academic expulsion of the students who had seized Hamilton Hall, an eight-story neo-classical building blocked by protesters who linked arms to form a barricade and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The university said<\/a> in a statement on Tuesday it had asked police to enter the campus to \u201crestore safety and order to our community\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It said: \u201cAfter the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university reiterated the view that the group who \u201cbroke into and occupied the building\u201d was being led by individuals who are \u201cnot affiliated with the university\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It added: \u201cThe decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n New York congressman Jamaal Bowman said he was \u201coutraged\u201d by the level of police presence at Columbia and other New York universities. He said on X: \u201cThe militarization of college campuses, extensive police presence, and arrest of hundreds of students are in direct opposition to the role of education as a cornerstone of our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bowman has called on the Columbia administration to stop the \u201cdangerous escalation before it leads to further harm\u201d and allow faculty back on to campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a Tuesday evening news briefing, Mayor Eric Adams and city police officials said the Hamilton Hall takeover was instigated by \u201coutside agitators\u201d who lack any affiliation with Columbia and are known to law enforcement for provoking lawlessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adams suggested some of the student protesters were not fully aware of \u201cexternal actors\u201d in their midst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe cannot and will not allow what should be a peaceful gathering to turn into a violent spectacle that serves no purpose. We cannot wait until this situation becomes even more serious. This must end now,\u201d the mayor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither Adams nor the university provided specific evidence to back up that contention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the student leaders of the protest, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian scholar attending Columbia\u2019s school of international and public affairs on a student visa, disputed assertions that outsiders had initiated the occupation. \u201cThey\u2019re students,\u201d he told Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hamilton Hall was one of several buildings occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam war protest on the campus. This week, student protesters, displayed a large banner that reads \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d, renaming it in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl from Gaza City who was killed by Israeli forces earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/184be070a9cf5b4f39cd4b48926faaa55995e047\/0_8_4368_2621\/master\/4368.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none\")
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Photograph: Stephani Spindel\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Police](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ed1ab3e3cd8d809adea8d26f2017eccf2db6f45a\/0_127_6000_3600\/master\/6000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none\")
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