NYPD cops stormed onto Columbia University’s campus on Tuesday night after finally being given the green light to oust a pro-terror mob that illegally took over an academic building – and to clear out an anti-Israel encampment that brought campus life to a halt.
Hundreds of officers swooped inside the gates of the Morningside Heights campus shortly after 9 p.m. — as other officers also descended on an “intifada’ encampment at the nearby City College of New York.
At Columbia, cops set their sights on historic Hamilton Hall, the building that was taken over by rogue rioters in a drastic escalation of the protests that have plagued the campus for weeks.
But when dozens of Emergency Service Unit officers approached the building, they were blocked from entering the front doors which had been barricaded by the unruly mob.
Several protesters appeared unbothered as they stood in the doorway with only a glass pane between them and the officers — as their comrades on the streets shouted “Pigs!”
The NYPD then brought in its Mobile Adjustable Ramp System vehicle and scores of riot-gear clad cops carrying zip-tie handcuffs entered Hamilton Hall through the second-floor window in a dramatic scene.
According to officials, cops used four distraction devices — described by Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves as a “very loud bang to distract people” — to infiltrate the academic building.
In total, about 100 protesters were cuffed and hauled away in the mass sweep, law enforcement sources told The Post.
The protesters — many of whom covered their faces with surgical masks or keffiyehs — were then marched out of Hamilton Hall and loaded onto three NYPD buses.
The arrests continued hours after both the building and the encampment were eventually cleared – as multiple protestors continued screaming anti-Israel sentiments and at least one was seen crying.
Cops also stationed themselves in front of off-campus housing and were greeted with hostile shouts of “NYPD, KKK, IOF! They’re all the same!”
Columbia University issued a statement just 15 minutes after cops entered the campus, saying it “regretted” having to rely on police to clear the mess.
“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation,” the administration said.
The NYPD then swiftly moved onto the campus’ South Lawn to clear out student protesters at the mini tent city, which remained in place despite the vacate deadline the university set the day prior.
“The people that were in the encampment are now gone,” said Nieves.
The camping tents and protesters’ belongings were all that remained on the lawn Tuesday night and would be cleared by the university, he added.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry told The Post that the hectic operation “went very well.”
It took about an hour to clear out Hamilton Hall and cuff the dozens of occupiers, sources said.
The dramatic operation unfolded as anti-Israel protesters were violently clashing with cops over at the City College of New York in Harlem.
The chaos broke out at the public university at about 8 p.m. when the NYPD moved in to clear out an “intifada” encampment erected last week.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many were nabbed during the City College ordeal.
Meanwhile, NYPD brass had announced earlier Tuesday that the Hamilton Hall occupiers at Columbia would be charged with third-degree burglary, criminal mischief and trespassing, while those camped out on the lawn would be hit with trespassing and disorderly conduct charges.
Despite the crowds being dispersed on Tuesday, the NYPD will remain on Columbia’s campus until the university’s May 15 commencement, sources told The Post.
The Ivy League school said it decided the NYPD would intervene early Tuesday, hours before Police Commissioner Edward Caban indicated his officers would be ready to mobilize as soon as he received the call.
“The decision to reach out to the NYPD was in response to the actions of the protesters, not the cause they are championing,” officials continued.
“We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law.”
The NYPD had mobilized to storm the campus hours earlier, with about 100 cops from the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit packed into buses and headed to Columbia in preparation for the university’s call for help, sources told The Post.
Dozens of others wearing riot gear and holding zip-tie handcuffs huddled on the street corner, apparently waiting for the go-ahead.
The NYPD blocked pedestrian and vehicular traffic on 114th Street and Broadway, while spectators chastised them: “Shame, shame, shame!”
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on anti-Israel protests on campuses across the US
About 45 minutes before the NYPD stormed the grounds, Columbia University issued a shelter-in-place for students over “heightened activity” at the Morningside campus — and warned that those who did not obey would face “disciplinary action.”
The university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a scathing statement once the officers began mobilizing, accusing Columbia’s administration of ignoring the faculty’s offers to “defuse the situation.”
“We hold University leadership responsible for the disastrous lapses of judgment that have gotten us to this point. The University President, her senior staff, and the Board of Trustees will bear responsibility for any injuries that may occur during any police action on our campus,” the group said.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the pro-terror protests at colleges across the US:
- Tear gas sprayed at UCLA encampment as cops face off with anti-Israel protesters wielding fire extinguishers
- Stanford submits ‘deeply disturbing’ photo of campus anti-Israel protester wearing Hamas headband to FBI
- Iranian college offers free tuition to US students expelled for participating in anti-Israel protests: ‘Our people’
- MAP: US colleges where students have been arrested over anti-Israel protests
Caban confirmed earlier Tuesday that the NYPD would swoop in if needed, as it had done two weeks earlier when student protesters first set up their mini tent city.
“Once the university asks for our help, the NYPD will be there ready to assist them,” the commissioner emphasized.
Meanwhile, NYPD officials revealed Tuesday that the mob of masked rabble-rousers who smashed their way into Hamilton Hall in the middle of the night included “professional outside agitators” not affiliated with Columbia or the pro-Palestinian cause.
The group employed escalation tactics seen in the previous rallies, including dragging metal barricades inside the building, using furniture to block the doors and destroying the property.
“We were well aware, based on a series of observations that what should have been a peaceful protest as part of the constitutional rights of Americans, has clearly been co-opted the right which this administration supports and defends to voice your concern,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
The group took over the building — which they dubbed “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in the Middle Eastern conflict — after Columbia University threatened to suspend students who didn’t vacate the encampment they had hunkered down in almost two weeks earlier.
Anti-Israel protesters planted dozens of tents on April 17 in solidarity with the Palestinian people, quickly igniting what has become a trend at elite universities across the Big Apple and the nation.
Hundreds of students — including “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter — were arrested and charged with trespassing the following day when the Ivy League school called on the NYPD to clear the protesters from the grounds.
Columbia University even doled out suspensions — which would make senior students ineligible for graduation next month — but the crowds returned within just 24 hours.
Antisemitism controversy at Columbia University: Key events
- More than 280 anti-Israel demonstrators were cuffed at Columbia and the City of New York campuses overnight in a “massive” NYPD operation.
- One hundred and nine people were nabbed at the Ivy League campus after cops responded to Columbia’s request to help oust a destructive mob that had illegally taken over the Hamilton Hall academic building late Tuesday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams and police said.
- Hizzoner blamed the on-campus chaos on insurgents who have a “history of escalating situations and trying to create chaos” instead of protesting peacefully.
- Columbia’s embattled president Minouche Shafik, who has faced mounting calls to resign for not cracking down sooner, issued a statement Wednesday saying the on-campus violence had “pushed the university to the brink.”
- Columbia University president Minouche Shafik was accused of “gross negligence” while testifying before Congress. Shafik refused to say if the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic.
- More than 100 Columbia professors signed a letter defending students who support the “military action” by Hamas.
The administration tried yet again to force the rowdy students off the property but failed to rein in the disruptive demonstration for several hours.
Busloads of police were on standby in case the revolt took a turn, but were ultimately not asked to intervene.
