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.
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.
After the sit-in began, Public Safety officers stood at the doors of Butler, preventing students outside from entering the building and telling students already in the library to leave. A crowd of students formed outside the entrance to Butler, as Public Safety officers prevented people from entering the library, regardless of if they had left behind personal belongings.
At around 5:03 p.m., the crowd rushed past the first set of doors, and several protesters entered the vestibule of Butler, pushing past Public Safety officers standing in the doorway. At least four Public Safety officers stood in the doorway between the vestibule and the library pushing protesters out of Butler.
“You have to stop pushing,” a Public Safety officer told the crowd.
“Stand back,” another Public Safety officer said. “Everybody back up.”
The officer repeatedly shouted, “Back up.”