Columbia University authorized NYPD officers to remove occupying protesters from the school’s Hamilton Hall, which had been taken over for nearly 24 hours.
New York City’s law enforcement leaders delivered an update Wednesday morning, hours after sweeping through the historic Hamilton Hall at Columbia University and clearing out a group of anti-Israel agitators who had “occupied” the building as part of their ongoing demonstrations.
Mayor Eric Adams warned that a global movement to “radicalize young people” is being led by individuals who are “not affiliated with the university” but nevertheless recruited students to “create chaos.”
“There is a movement to radicalize young people, and I’m not going to wait until it’s done and all of a sudden acknowledge the existence of it,” he told reporters Wednesday morning. ‘This is a global problem that young are being influenced by those who are professionals and radicalizing our children. And I’m not going to allow that to happen. As the mayor of the city of New York.”
Police finally stormed the structure after school administrators repeatedly retreated from enforcing deadlines demanding the groups dismantle their campus encampment over the past two weeks. Columbia University officials finally threatened the group with expulsion after students smashed their way into the school’s Hamilton Hall and “occupied” the building.
“There’s nothing peaceful about barricading buildings, destroying property or dismantling security cameras,” Adams said.
His remarks came after university officials finally asked police for support as campus demonstrations grew increasingly unruly.
“Students occupying the building face expulsion,” school spokesman Ben Chang declared in bold letters in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
