A large number of New York Police Department officers swarmed Columbia University’s campus on Tuesday after the school finally gave the department permission to enter and help regain control after pro-Hamas extremists illegally overtook a building this week.
The police arrived on campus wearing helmets, and carrying zip ties and riot shields. They gathered outside Hamilton Hall around a heavily armored vehicle that had a ladder deployed so that officers could enter the building through an upstairs window.
NBC News reported that law enforcement made dozens of arrests, removed multiple barricades, and nearly cleared the entire building within a short period of time.
There were no reported injuries to police, students or faculty, the report said.
BREAKING: Police at Columbia are entering Hamilton Hall: pic.twitter.com/CjqeC8p6EQ
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) May 1, 2024
#NOW NYPD Drove BEARCAT into Columbia University, accessing occupied building through a window. Hundreds of cops continue to pour into the University.
Video by @yyeeaahhhboiii2 [email protected] to license pic.twitter.com/7w3COwAKKu
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 1, 2024
#BREAKING MASS ARRESTS as NYPD pour hundreds of cops inside Columbia University, Raiding Encampment
Video by Olga Fe [email protected] to license pic.twitter.com/YnS6v4V00p
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 1, 2024
The NYPD is physically removing campus protesters from Columbia. pic.twitter.com/HQoJgqP0qx
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 1, 2024
NYPD raids Hamilton Hall, which was renamed to Hinds Hall, to conduct the physical removal and arrests of campus protesters at Columbia. Here’s a view from the inside. pic.twitter.com/hBQxOKfV8u
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 1, 2024
A Tactical Team with NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit and other Officers with the Strategic Response Group have now Breached the 1st Floor of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University. pic.twitter.com/C8gKos8L07
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 1, 2024
WATCH: Hamas supporters at Columbia have a meltdown inside Hamilton Hall now that the NYPD is making arrests: “Fuck you. It’s finals. Can I go home?”
pic.twitter.com/pXSG2JImTh— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 1, 2024
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said in a letter to the NYPD requesting their assistance that the school believes that outside extremists were responsible for much of what had happened.
“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,” she wrote.
CBS New York reporter Ali Bauman posted on X that New York City Hall sources told the news station that they have evidence that “the wife of a known terrorist is with protestors on Columbia University campus.” The post went viral before Bauman later deleted it.
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.