Tensions flared at Columbia University on Wednesday after dozens of pro-Palestinian student protesters were arrested for occupying part of the school’s main library. The dramatic scene unfolded inside Butler Library, where students wearing keffiyehs and face masks staged a sit-in, turning the grand reading room into a protest zone draped with Palestinian flags and banners.
The demonstration was organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a student group demanding the university cut ties with what they call “imperialist violence.”
The group said their action was in response to what they see as the university’s increasing crackdown on student activism.
Videos posted online showed students chanting as they entered the library, openly defying a campus ban on face coverings during protests. That ban, along with other strict rules, was put in place after the Trump administration threatened to cut $400 million in federal funding.
In March, the university agreed to a list of demands from the administration, including tighter control over protests and new rules requiring student protesters to show ID when asked.
Columbia also hired new public safety officers with the authority to make arrests. And on Wednesday, those changes were put to the test.
When the protest escalated, the university asked the New York Police Department for help. Officers moved in quickly and arrested more than 70 people, according to Columbia’s student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator.
The NYPD later confirmed on social media that they were responding to a “trespassing” situation at the university’s request.
“Repression breeds resistance,” the student group said in a fiery online statement, promising more disruptions if the university continues to clamp down on protests.
