A dramatic scene unfolded late April 30 at 9 P.M. as the New York Police Department brought in a military-grade vehicle with an extendable ramp to gain entry to a window of Hamilton Hall, the campus building occupied by student protestors since April 30 midnight. 
| Photo Credit: Anisha Dutta

A dramatic scene unfolded late April 30 at 9 p.m. as the New York Police Department (NYPD) brought in a military-grade vehicle with an extendable ramp to gain entry to a window of Hamilton Hall, the campus building occupied by student protestors since April 30 midnight. 

Dozens of NYPD officers in riot gear swarmed Columbia University around 9:30 p.m. and encircled key areas of the campus including the ‘Gaza Solidary Encampment’ and the Hamilton Hall that had been occupied by anti-war student protesters. 

Also read: Columbia protests LIVE updates

Additional crowds of officers entered the campus on foot through the main gate. According to police, flash bangs were used to disorient the protesters as officers made their way inside Hamilton Hall. The officers blocked media and student journalists from entering the premises of Hamilton Hall while putting the entire campus on lockdown till the area was cleared of the protesters. 

According to police, at least 48 people were taken into custody on April 30 night, and three encampments were dismantled. At least two New York City Department of Correction buses full of protesters were seen being driven away from the school.

Columbia said it had called the police to campus for the second time in less than two weeks after the building, Hamilton Hall, was “vandalized and blockaded.” President Minouche Shafik has also asked NYPD to maintain a presence on campus through at least May 17 to prevent further encampments or occupations.

The decision to call the NYPD on campus comes days after Ms. Shafik came under heavy criticism for calling them earlier this month to clear the pro-Palestine protest. 

On April 18, Ms. Shafik’s decision to authorise the NYPD’s sweep of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” which led to the mass arrest of over 100 protesters, left many community members stunned. Over 100 faculty members from the University on April 22 gathered on the campus for a walkout to condemn the suspension and arrests of students and call for amnesty and protection of academic freedom.

“We called on the NYPD to clear an encampment once,” Ms. Shafik wrote in a statement to the community last Friday co-signed by the co-chairs of Columbia’s board of trustees. 

“But we all share the view, based on discussions within our community and with outside experts, that to bring back the NYPD at this time would be counterproductive, further inflaming what is happening on campus.”  

According to the NYPD, protesters had barricaded the halls with soda machines, chairs and other furniture. Meanwhile student protestors alleged NYPD officials turned off their body cameras while entering the building. 

Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the coalition organising the encampment protest, said, “Columbia admin and NYPD prevented Columbia’s volunteer student-run EMS service (CUEMS) from treating students injured by police violence on campus. People who called for help on campus were unable to access medical attention.”  

Police had set up barricades all around the university’s perimeter earlier April 30 evening, where more protesters gathered. Protesters outside the campus were heard chanting “shame on you” and “free, free Palestine” as officers made their way inside and led students in handcuffs out.

Before police moved in, Columbia University tonight sent a letter asking the NYPD for assistance.

In her letter to the NYPD, Ms. Shafik wrote, “As we have discussed, in the early morning of April 30, 2024 a group of individuals entered Hamilton Hall for the purpose of occupying the building. The building was closed at the time the students entered. An individual hid in the building until after it closed and let the other individuals in.”

“There were two security guards inside. We were able to secure their release. We believe that while the group who broke into the building includes students, it is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University.The individuals who have occupied Hamilton Hall have vandalized University property and are trespassing,” she added. 

The move also came shortly after New York Mayor, Eric Adams in a press conference at 6 p.m. that the protest at Columbia University “has basically been co-opted by professional outside agitators” who intend to sow chaos.

Earlier in the day, an alert sent from the school on April 30 night urged students on the Morningside campus to “shelter in place for your safety due to heightened activity” and “avoid the area until further notice.

(Anisha Dutta is a freelance journalist based in New York)

New York:

An esteemed economist, Minouche Shafik was thrilled to become president of one of America’s most prestigious colleges.

But her name will now be tied with dramatic images of New York police arresting pro-Palestinian students at the Columbia University campus.

Less than a year after taking up the role, 61-year-old Shafik finds herself at the heart of a storm over her handling of the protests that spread to other colleges in the United States.

Twice in two weeks, she asked the police to intervene — first to disperse an encampment on the university grounds and then, on Tuesday, to oust students who had barricaded themselves inside a building on campus.

Spectacular images of helmeted police officers encircling the campus and detaining students were making the rounds overnight, prompting criticism for Shafik, particularly from teachers.

Even before Tuesday, Shafik was under fire on two main fronts.

Republicans have demanded Shafik resign, arguing that she failed to protect Jewish students on her campus.

Meanwhile pro-Palestinian students accuse her of muzzling their protests and of escalating the situation by calling police in to manage the demonstrations.

‘Profound effect’

Born in Alexandria in Egypt, Nemat “Minouche” Shafik was four years old when her family fled the country and moved to the United States.

“I was born into a comfortable family in a society marked by severe inequality,” the British-American told the Columbia Magazine in autumn 2023.

But she said “my family’s prospects changed dramatically in the mid-1960s, when most of our land and property was seized by the Egyptian state as part of Nasser’s nationalization program.”

Shafik found herself an immigrant in the American South “during the desegregation era, amid explosive racial tensions,” an experience that had a “profound effect,” she said.

A graduate of prestigious universities in the United States and the United Kingdom, Shafik went on to occupy various senior posts at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England, before being named head of the London School of Economics.

Shafik is also a member of the House of Lords, the second chamber of the UK parliament, a role from which she is currently on leave.

‘Crucial role’

Columbia University had already been embroiled in debates, including about the costs of higher education, before Shafik became president last year, making her the first woman to hold the post.

But the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel in October, began a course of turmoil for the college.

Shafik saw the resignations of the presidents of two other universities — including Harvard — brought about over claims they were not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism on their campuses.

On April 17, it was Shafik’s turn to be questioned by Congress on the issue. She firmly defended her actions and condemned anti-Semitism “that is so pervasive today.”

That same day, Columbia students set up tents on the campus lawns to demand an end to the war in Gaza and that their university cut all ties with Israel.

Shafik called on New York’s police a day later to help disperse the protesters, leading to more than 100 students being arrested.

That started a high-profile standoff that continued into this week.

In the Columbia Magazine, Shafik said she decided to become president of the “extraordinary institution” because it was the “most cosmopolitan, outward-looking” of America’s top universities.

“And at a time when universities have a crucial role to play in addressing societal problems, I think that Columbia is positioned to be a tremendous force for positive change, in New York City and around the world,” she said.

Her students, on both sides of the fence, seem to have taken her at her word.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)