Over 100 folks had been arrested and issued summonses for trespass — together with Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter — after protesters arrange an encampment at New York’s Columbia University in improve of Gaza, police stated.
The demonstrators occupied the gap at the college’s South Lawn for 30 hours, Mayor Eric Adams stated after the arrests Thursday. Columbia requested the NYPD for lend a hand and stated the scholars have been suspended and had been refusing to depart, police stated.
“Columbia University’s students have a proud history of protests and raising their voices,” Adams stated, however he stated that they don’t have the fitting to violate college insurance policies.
“We will not be a city of lawlessness,” Adams stated.
Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, 21, who attends neighboring Barnard College in Manhattan, stated on social media platform X that she used to be suspended for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” along side at least two different scholars.
Hirsi, an organizer with a pupil crew that advocates for Palestinians, stated this used to be her first time being punished as a pupil activist in her 3 years at the New York City college.
“Those of us in Gaza Solidarity Encampment will not be intimidated,” she wrote.
More than 108 were arrested and given summonses for trespass, including Hirsi, police said. Two of those people were also charged with obstruction of governmental administration, according to authorities.
The students that were arrested were peaceful, did not resist “and saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said.
But around 500 other students left class and surrounded the quad “and were telling us that we’re the KKK,” among other insults, Caban said. Video from the scene obtained by NBC News shows crowds chanting “shame on you!” but does not capture the entire incident.
Columbia University’s president, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik, stated in a memo to police previous Thursday that greater than 100 folks had been occupying the realm.
“I’ve made up our minds that the encampment and similar disruptions pose a transparent and provide threat to the really extensive functioning of the University,” the memo said.
Shafik said the demonstrators were trespassing, refusing to disperse and damaging campus property, among other violations.
In a statement Thursday, Shafik said she authorized police to clear the encampment “out of an abundance of concern” for safety on campus.
By late Thursday afternoon, police had disassembled the original tent encampment, but protesters were beginning to build a new one on an adjacent lawn.
“Columbia is dedicated to permitting individuals of our network to interact in political expression — inside of established laws and with admire for the security of all,” the memo said.
Barnard said its staff identified its students who were at the encampment Wednesday and told them to leave or face sanctions. Those still there Thursday morning were placed on interim suspension, the university said.
Barnard did not say how many students were suspended or confirm that Hirsi was among them. It did not say how long the suspension would last but said it would continue to suspend students who stay.
“Now and always, we prioritize our students’ learning and living in an inclusive environment free from harassment,” the school said in a memo in regards to the suspensions.
Hirsi could not be immediately reached for comment.
Omar did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Democrat, who represents Minnesota, is a Somali refugee who made history as one of the first two Muslim American women elected to Congress.
On Wednesday, Omar questioned Shafik about protests on campus during a congressional hearing in which Shafik strongly denounced antisemitism.
Omar told Shafik she was “appalled” to learn that Columbia suspended six students this month for their involvement in a pro-Palestinian panel event on campus.
“There has been a recent attack on the democratic rights of students across the country,” Omar said.
At a news conference by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine held outside Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, student Layla Saliba condemned the clearing of the camp.
‘What happened today at Columbia University was an act of violence towards Arab, Muslim, Palestinian students, Jewish students and just anybody who supports Palestinian liberation,” she stated.
Tensions over unfastened speech have erupted on some U.S. faculty campuses for the reason that struggle between Hamas and Israel began in October.
This week, the University of Southern California canceled a Muslim pupil’s valedictorian speech out of safety considerations. Last week, a University of California, Berkeley, professor faced a Muslim pupil throughout a dinner for graduating legislation scholars.
