Chaos still reigns at Columbia University, where on Wednesday the NYPD made dozens of arrests among hooded pro-Pal protesters who had occupied part of the Butler Library.
The Ivy League university’s interim president, Claire Shipman, said two public safety officers were injured as the crowd surged, trying to force their way in. “These actions are outrageous,” she said, “Disruptions to academic activity will not be tolerated. Columbia strongly condemns violence on our campus, antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination, some of which we witnessed today.”
According to university officials, students not involved in the protest were allowed to leave the library, but protesters were asked to show identification. When they refused to identify themselves they were placed “under militarized arrest.”
The protest began shortly after a House committee finished questioning three college presidents about anti-Semitism on their campuses amid protests over the war between Israel and Gaza.
Columbia was the epicenter of last year’s demonstrations and has recently come under intense federal scrutiny. In early 2025, the Trump administration announced $400 million in funding cuts to the university, alleging that the institution had failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination. The government’s anti-Semitic task force launched numerous investigations of the colleges and threatened to suspend funding to several universities.
This spring, several Columbia University international students with legal permanent residency were sought or held for expulsion in connection with pro-Palestinian protests. The Trump government has promised to expel all those protesters who have been described as “pro-jihadist.” However, the measures taken by the government have not stopped the protests. Yesterday, about 100 activists, most of them belonging to the pro-Pal Columbia University Apartheid Divest group, occupied the campus library, where several students were preparing final exams.
The group reiterated its demands on Wednesday night, including “amnesty” for students, faculty and university staff under disciplinary sanctions, and the removal of police officers and ICE from campus. In an email, the protesters wrote: “We are not intimidated by the university’s repression. Columbia cannot ‘expel’ the student intifada. As the zionist entity escalates its decimation of Gaza, students must escalate across every university.”
As the Columbia Daily Spectator later reported, NYPD officers, who erupted into the library in riot gear, arrested no fewer than 75 protesters. New York City Mayor Eric Adams also spoke on the matter, describing the protest in question as “unacceptable.”
“We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on X, ”Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”
