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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Over 100 people arrested as NYPD breaks up pro-Palestinian protest at
Columbia University, law enforcement source says
By Shimon Prokupecz, Emma Tucker, John Miller, Alaa Elassar and John
Towfighi
Updated:
11:00 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
More than 100 people were arrested by New York Police Department
officers on a preliminary charge of criminal trespass, according to a
law enforcement official, as police entered Columbia University on
Thursday to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest that began a day earlier
as the university’s president about the school’s response to
antisemitism.
The individuals were detained with no resistance, and the university is
named as the complainant since the incident occurred on its property,
the official told CNN.
Columbia President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik was in Washington, DC,
testifying to the House education committee, as the protesters –
including students, faculty and others – gathered in upper Manhattan
early Wednesday morning, setting up tents and signs.
Later that afternoon, competing rallies of pro-Israel and
pro-Palestinian groups grew.
Several people waving Palestinian flags had verbal confrontations with
police officers, who had begun boxing the protesters in with
barricades, CNN affiliate WCBS reported. In video from WCBS,
pro-Palestinian protesters could be seen clashing with police and some
had lit small fires. One woman could be seen being led away in
handcuffs.
Four people were arrested overnight during protests at Columbia, the
NYPD said. Police did not specify what charges were filed and gave no
additional details about the arrests.
Hamas fighters launched a devastating attack on Israel on October 7,
and taking 250 others hostage. Since Israel declared war on Hamas, more
than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 76,000 have been
injured in the besieged enclave since the beginning of Israel’s war
in Gaza, according to there.
Students and faculty set up a tent encampment on campus lawns
Wednesday.
The encampment was organized by a student-led coalition of over 120
organizations, including , Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP),
and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) to protest what they describe as the
university’s “continued financial investment in corporations that
profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of
Palestine,” according to student coalition group CUAD’s news
release.
“The Gaza Solidarity Encampment was established to pressure Columbia
to divest all funds, including the endowment, from corporations that
profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and military occupation in
Palestine,” CUAD said.
CNN reached out to Columbia University and the university’s Advisory
Committee on Socially Responsible Investing for more information on
their investments and for comment on the protest organizers’
allegations.
One of the organizing groups, including “Uptown4Palestine,” was
in part aimed at raising awareness about “the ongoing genocide and
displacement of Palestinians.”
During Wednesday’s protests, Columbia closed the gates to campus,
only allowing individuals with Columbia IDs to enter. Many of the
pro-Palestinian protesters affiliated with Columbia camped on the
campus overnight.
Shafik wrote a letter to the NYPD on Thursday asking for the
department’s help to “remove these individuals.”
“The actions of these individuals are in violation of University
rules and policies,” the president wrote. “The University provided
multiple notices and warnings and informed the encampment participants
that they must disperse or face immediate discipline.”
The president told students she authorized the NYPD to break up the
encampment, according to an email obtained by CNN. Shafik wrote she
authorized the move “out of an abundance of concern for the safety of
Columbia’s campus.”
“I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary
circumstances,” Shafik wrote. “The individuals who established the
encampment violated a long list of rules and policies.”
NYPD officers used bullhorns to tell protesters they would be arrested
unless they dispersed immediately. Large crowds of Columbia students on
the perimeter chanted, “Shame on you” and, “The students united
will never be defeated.”
Shortly after 2 p.m., a group of at least 200 protesters moved to an
area about two blocks away from the school campus near the NYPD staging
site and police said they would soon disperse the crowd, CNN witnessed.
Officers in helmets, carrying batons, were seen lining up in the street
surrounding the group.
In the past, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has
declined to prosecute or deferred prosecution cases where large numbers
of people were arrested as part of civil disobedience.
Video footage online appears to show NYPD officers clashing with
protesters outside the university on Thursday morning. The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Thursday on social media
warning riders buses in the area are delayed because of a protest at
the university.
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter among those arrested, police official says
Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, was among those arrested
Thursday, a police official told CNN. The official said Hirsi is being
processed and will likely receive a summons for a criminal trespass
charge then be released from custody.
Hirsi, an organizer with Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine,
said earlier Thursday she and two other students at Barnard College –
located across the street from Columbia University – were suspended
for participating in pro-Palestinian protests.
In a statement “never been reprimanded or received any disciplinary
warnings” in her three years at the college.
“I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for
standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide,” Hirsi
said.
Barnard is an official college of Columbia University, but also an
independently incorporated educational institution.
When asked about the suspensions, a Barnard College spokesperson said
the college “does not provide information about confidential student
conduct proceedings,” and referred CNN to a sent to the college
community.
Current students and Columbia alumni attended the demonstration. Among
them was Nas Issa, who graduated from Columbia in 2020. Issa is a
member of the Palestinian Youth Movement and is currently assisting in
mobilizing support to help the students arrested.
“We were part of the pickets that are circling the lawns, to protect
them and to show them that their community is with them,” Issa told
CNN.
Ry, who withheld his last name to protect his identity, told CNN he had
been camping at the campus until arrests were being made.
“I want people to remember that we might be detached from the
Palestinian people culturally and geographically,” said Ry, who is a
senior at Columbia studying history and a member of Jewish Voice for
Peace.
“But we as students are using our privilege to stand for people who
have been oppressed for far too long and we hope other universities
take the call and do the same,” he continued.
University under fire for hiring professor who made controversial
remarks
Shafik and the university have been criticized for how their officials
have handled antisemitic, Islamophobic and anti-Arab harassment
incidents on campus.
During the the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing,
Shafik said the core of the university’s mission is to “ensure that
all members of our community may engage in our cherished traditions of
free expression and open debate,” quoting from the school’s rules
of university conduct.
“We believe that Columbia’s role is not to shield individuals from
positions that they find unwelcome, but instead to create an
environment where different viewpoints can be tested and challenged,”
Shafik added. However, she acknowledged that freedom of speech has been
used to justify chants and language that has made students feel unsafe.
Last fall, a Columbia student who was hanging posters on campus in
support of Israel was . Days later, a mobile “doxxing” billboard
drove outside the entrance of Columbia who a conservative nonprofit
said were linked to a for the Hamas terror attack.
University leaders had condemning “disturbing antisemitic and
Islamophobic acts, including intimidation and outright violence.”
The university has also faced criticism for hiring a professor who
allegedly expressed support for Hamas on social media following the
October 7 terror attack on Israel. That professor , Shafik said
Wednesday.
Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when
the professor’s termination takes effect.
CNN’s Matt Egan and Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.
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