Columbia Uni Directs NYPD to Remove Students Protesting War
Scores of Columbia University students were arrested Thursday afternoon after they rebuffed authorities’ pleas to vacate an on-campus tent city erected in support of Palestine.
“Since you have refused to disperse, you will now be placed under arrest for trespassing,” the NYPD told protesters through a loudspeaker. “If you resist arrest, you may face additional charges.”
Police officers began taking protesters into custody at around 1:30 p.m., putting them in flex-cuffs and loading them onto buses parked nearby. “Shame! Shame!” some chanted as the arrests unfolded. Others broke out in their own chant of, “Columbia, Columbia you will see, Palestine will be free,” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, will not rest.”