Columbia University: More than 100 arrested in pro-Palestinian protest

(NewsNation) — Police said 108 people were charged with trespassing at Columbia University in connection to a pro-Palestinian protest encampment set up on campus this week.

Two people were also charged with obstructing government administration.

Arrests made by the New York City Police Department Thursday were done at the behest of the school, according to a statement from NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry.

Daughtry said the school determined the encampment and related disruptions “pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.” Police in riot gear used zip ties to detain the students, and loaded them onto police buses.

According to the student newspaper Columbia Spectator, John Chell, Chief of Patrol for the NYPD, said no violence or injuries were associated with the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”

Police Commissioner Edward Caban also said the arrests were peaceful and the protesters were cooperative.

Still, some officers, as well as NYC Mayor Eric Adams, took issue with some of their comments to police, although he acknowledged arrests were made without resistance. 

In response to the arrests at Columbia, student groups for Palestine at other campuses, including the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Ohio State University and Boston University, also had protests that took place on Friday.

“Columbia students have bravely occupied their campus in peaceful protest, yet they have faced authoritarian retaliation from their administration,” Students for Justice in Palestine at the Ohio State University said on Instagram. “We stand firmly in solidarity with these student activists and amplify their demands to their university.”

In addition to the arrests, a spokesperson for Columbia University said students taking part in what they said was an “unauthorized encampment” are also being suspended.

Columbia is continuing to identify the students involved and will be sending out formal notifications of suspension.

One of those being suspended is Isra Hirsi, daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who announced her suspension on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I just received notice that I am 1 of 3 students suspended for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide,” she wrote.

Hirsi noted that she has never received any disciplinary warnings or reprimands prior to this incident.

In a quote-tweet sharing Hirsi’s post, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan criticized the arrests.

“From UM to Vanderbilt to USC to Columbia, students across our country are being retaliated against for using their constitutional rights to protest genocide,” Tlaib said. “It’s appalling.”

The protest started shortly before Columbia University President Minouche Shafik testified before Congress regarding antisemitism on campus. Students are speaking out in opposition of Israel’s military action in Gaza and demanding the school divest from companies they claim “profit from Israeli apartheid.”

In a statement to the Columbia student body, Shafik said that while protests are a tradition at the school, the encampment is in violation of rules and policies.

“I took this extraordinary step because these are extraordinary circumstances,” she wrote. “Through direct conversations and in writing, the university provided multiple notices of these violations, including a written warning at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday notifying students who remained in the encampment as of 9:00 p.m. that they would face suspension pending investigation. We also tried through a number of channels to engage with their concerns and offered to continue discussions if they agreed to disperse.”

However, organizations such as the NYCLU said the decision to bring police in “so quickly” has a chilling effect on student speech, and “raises questions about the university’s disparate treatment of students based on their views.”

“It also risks the well-being of students, because the NYPD deployed its Strategic Response Group, a unit that has a history of escalation and violence,” the NYCLU said in a statement. “It is also concerning that the NYPD arrested legal observers, whose job it is to monitor police activities for rights violations, and who are well known to the department. The NYPD knows better.”

Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute brought up similar concerns in a statement where they urged the university “to stop requesting the use of police force to suppress peaceful protests and to rescind all undue punitive measures against students for the legitimate exercise of their fundamental rights.”

“Columbia has a rich history of protest activism, including against the Vietnam War,  apartheid in South Africa, and sexual assault on campus, as well as for climate justice and Black Lives Matter,” the institute wrote. “But yesterday’s arrests follow a spate of deeply troubling action taken at Columbia to suppress speech across campus in support of Palestinian human rights.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.