An anti-Israel protester, who was part of a group that took over a building on the campus of Columbia University, complained about a police raid and asked to “go home.”
Students who had taken part in an anti-Israel encampment seized control of Hamilton Hall on Tuesday morning and could be heard complaining that NYPD officers would not allow them to leave when the academic building was raided by police that evening.
Anti-Israel protesters carried barricades into the building, smashed the glass doors of the building, and hung pro-Palestinian banners from the windows.
“They just barricaded us in,” one protester could be heard saying.
Another could be heard responding, “Oh my f***ing God. No f***ing way. F**k you, it’s finals. Can I go home?”
Columbia University issued a statement after multiple reports and videos showed NYPD officers in riot gear executing a raid on the university.
In its statement, the university said NYPD officers “arrived on campus” a little after 9:00 p.m. and that the university was “left with no choice”:
We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. 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.
Prior to the anti-Israel protesters taking control of the building, Columbia University had given students involved in the encampment a deadline of 2:00 p.m. on Monday of which to leave.
An initial anti-Israel encampment was established at Columbia University on April 17. The following day, several students were suspended and hundreds of protesters involved in the encampment were arrested.
While Columbia University was able to remove the initial anti-Israel encampment, another one popped up in its place.