Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the 116th Street and Broadway gates during Columbia’s central Commencement ceremony earlier this morning. 

New York Police Department officers put up metal barricades to redirect foot traffic from the gates and cordon off protesters on 116th Street and Broadway. 

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and held signs reading “Shame” with the Columbia logo flipped upside down. 

At around 11:15 a.m., NYPD Strategic Response Group officers entered the area with zip ties and face shields. A group of officers forced a protester to the ground as other officers moved metal barricades to further block off protesters. 

In a Monday Instagram post, an account named “columbia4palestine”announced a rally at 10 a.m. on Wednesday outside the gates during the ceremony. The post encouraged attendees to bring noisemakers and wear masks. 

“We say firmly: there can be no graduation as usual while Columbia University remains complicit through providing investment, research, and ideological cover to genocide while repressing those who stand on the right side of history,” the caption of the post reads.

Read the developing story here.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the federal government is “reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library” in a Wednesday post on X, condemning a pro-Palestinian protest in Butler Library.

“Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation,” Rubio wrote. Read the full story here.

Read the developing story here.

New York Police Department officers, some in riot gear, responded with force multiple times while over 100 protesters picketed around Columbia’s campus on Wednesday night following the NYPD arrests of over 75 individuals at a Butler Library protest.

At around 4:45 p.m., Within Our Lifetime called for an “Emergency Rally 4 Palestine” and urged protesters to “mobilize” at 116th Street and Broadway in a post on X.

At the picket, some officers got into verbal altercations before pushing the individuals. Officers chased protesters down Broadway and grabbed those who tried to run. Read the developing story here. 

New York Police Department officers arrested at least 20 protesters and led them out of Butler Library into an NYPD bus on 114th Street at around 7:27 p.m. in response to a pro-Palestinian protest in the Lawrence A. Wien Reading Room.

Acting University President Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, authorized the NYPD to enter Butler Wednesday evening, she wrote in a public statement.

NYPD officers entered campus through Butler at around 7:04 p.m. Read the developing story here.

Acting University President Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, authorized the New York Police Department to enter Butler Library amid an ongoing protest in the Lawrence A. Wien Reading Room, she wrote in a public statement Wednesday evening.

NYPD officers entered campus through Butler at around 7:04 p.m.

Over a dozen protesters exited Butler onto 114th Street and headed toward Amsterdam Avenue at around 7:10 p.m. Read the developing story here.

Acting University President Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, arrived at Butler at around 5:30 p.m.

The protesters who staged a Wednesday pro-Palestinian “Emergency Rally” in the Lawrence A. Wien Reading Room in Butler Library have attempted to leave the room, but Public Safety officers have blocked the exit.

Protesters have been asked to show their identification, but none have complied, according to a statement from the Columbia Office of Public Affairs.