Police in New York on Thursday raided the Columbia University campus to arrest about 100 anti-Israel demonstrators, following a request from authorities to evacuate a protest camp.
๐จUpdate๐จ Thousands of students at Columbia University are on the plaza with hundreds of students occupying the West Lawn pic.twitter.com/0maFuvzs0R
– Sebas ๐ต๐ธ๐ธ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฌ (@cybersebb) April 18, 2024
After the arrests, other protesters moved to block the fleet of NYPD buses that were transporting the suspects away.
NOW: Hundreds of students occupied the West Lawn in front of Columbia University's Butler Library, while university employees evacuated the camp on the East Lawn after the mass arrest of student demonstrators.pic.twitter.com/FYGWfyQmAC
โ Katie Smith (@mayread) April 18, 2024
Update: A large group of students surrounded the Palestine Solidarity Camp at Columbia University to express their support for the protesters pic.twitter.com/WN6yc7MSac
โ Hack News (@BTnewsroom) April 18, 2024
Dozens of police wearing bulletproof vests and armor entered the Morningside Heights campus shortly after 1pm on Thursday (8:00pm local time in Greece) to surround the encampment set up on Wednesday morning.
More than 100 students occupied a place in the southern part of the courtyard.
The university asked them to leave by 9 pm on Wednesday or face penalties. The deadline was later moved to 11:00 on Thursday.
When the police entered the campus, they warned the demonstrators that they would be arrested if they did not leave.
Although the student demonstrators did not resist arrest, onlookers booed the police and shouted at the officers to stand back.
Update: Columbia University President Minouche Shafik speaks out about the NYPD's deployment to her students during their arrest pic.twitter.com/VHBCKqPiR5
– Sebas ๐ต๐ธ๐ธ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฌ (@cybersebb) April 18, 2024
In an email to students, faculty and staff, foundation president Minos Shafiq said she had authorized the NYPD to evacuate the camp, though she hoped such a move would be โabsolutely not necessary.โ
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