Columbia campus shelter-in-place ends: How many students were arrested?

Hundreds of NYPD officers descended upon Columbia University in New York City at the invitation of the university’s administration after pro-Palestinian protestors occupied Hamilton Hall on Monday. Earlier yesterday, the administration had warned that any students who refused to leave voluntarily would face disciplinary action. In protest against threats, students occupied Hamilton Hall, renaming it Hind Hall. The scenes come almost exactly 56 years after Columbua students took the same action in the anti-war protests of 1968.

Following the attack, her dead family members surrounded her for hours, and first responders were barred from rescuing her from the car that was attacked. A story so chilling, especially with a victim so young and innocent.

Insight | U.S. Constitution is clear on peaceful protesting

On Tuesday evening, mixed messages were sent to students just as police flooded the campus. When police turned about around 9 PM, students were sent an e-mail that the Morningside campus was under a shelter-in-place order and that “non-compliance [could] result in disciplinary action.” A shelter-in-place warning was sent to student’s emails shortly before the police arrived on campus. Still, many students reported having issues with their keycards, leaving them vulnerable as the law enforcement escalation began to take effect.

The e-mail did not mention that university administrators had called the NYPD to arrest the students who had occupied Hamilton Hall on Monday. As events unfolded, students reported from the scene tonight, though their access to police action was curtailed. Some of the student reporters were trapped in the journalism department’s building under threats from police that if they tried to leave, they could face arrest. When the Dean of the Journalism School, Jelani Cobb, pushed back, citing the right of the press to report on the ongoing events, he was also threatened with arrest.

How many students have been arrested?

The total number of students arrested is still not available, but what is known is that at least three buses to take away those arrested were spotted around campus, some with students already loaded on. Additionally, footage captured by those present during the police incursion shows police using excessive force on peaceful demonstrators. The video below shows a protestor who was allegedly pushed down the stairs by police as they attempted to break through the protestors (the video may be disturbing to some viewers so please proceed with caution).

Notably, the students taking over an administrative building coincides with the 56th anniversary of anti-war student protestors having taken the same action in 1968.

Faculty on the attack as NYPD arrest students on campus

Faculty members supposed to be included in decisions to invite NYPD on campus were not informed, prompting the American Association of University Professors, Columbia University Chapter to issue a statement. The letter explains that many faculty members “have spent the day offering our help to defuse the situation on Columbia’s campus and have been rebuffed or ignored.” Many professors are ashamed of how the administration has treated the protestors and describe the events of the last two weeks as “disastrous lapses of judgment” by the administration.

The police presence is expected to continue. Columbia’s president asked the NYPD to remain on campus through May 17, surprising many student reporters as the news came out.