New York police officers cleared pro-Palestinian student encampments late Tuesday night at two campuses as similar protests continued to simmer across the country’s higher education institutions.
New York police officers cleared student encampments late Tuesday night at two campuses, as pro-Palestinian protests continued to simmer across the country’s higher education institutions.
At Columbia University, New York police used a massive armored vehicle to push a bridge into a window of Hamilton Hall, the building demonstrators began occupying the previous night. Officers then streamed over the bridge into a window — quickly retaking the building.
Elsewhere in New York City, police disbanded an encampment set up at The City College of New York, less than a mile from Columbia. A large number of students were hauled away.
Early Tuesday evening, a large crowd of demonstrators marched from Columbia University to The City College of New York, a school within the City University of New York system. CUNY public safety handled the initial response, arresting 25 individuals, it said.
About 100 protesters were there, including alum Leena Widdi, who said she saw about 20 people arrested as interactions with police turned violent. Though, NYPD has not yet confirmed or denied that, and did not have arrest data available as of 2:50 a.m. Eastern Wednesday.
The police action in New York came as the continuing student protests exposed the raw emotions across the country’s campuses. In Los Angeles, local news outlets showed clashes between rival protests groups on the UCLA campus that began Tuesday night and spilled into early Wednesday morning.
In Oregon, Portland State University closed its campus Tuesday after protesters took over a library building.
