NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Pro-Palestinian protesters vowed to continue their fight, reassembling Thursday outside of Columbia University after more than 100 people were arrested in a police raid where officers removed demonstrators from a school building they were barricaded inside.
Police arrested 173 at The City University of New York and 109 at Columbia. An NYPD source confirmed to NewsNation Thursday that more than 40% of people arrested were “not affiliated” with Columbia or CUNY. Over 70% arrested were affiliated with Columbia and 29% were not affiliated, the source said.
Protest encampments were also cleared by the New York Police Department, resulting in arrests at Fordham University.
New York Mayor Eric Adams blamed “outside agitators” Wednesday for co-opting the demonstrations.
“There is a movement to radicalize young people. And I’m not going to wait until it is done to acknowledge the existence of it,” he said.
Adams added that police have identified organizations and people with a history of escalating situations. He repeatedly cited the presence of a woman on Columbia’s campus whose husband Adams said had been “convicted for terrorism.” However, the woman, Nahla Al-Arian, wasn’t on Columbia’s campus this week and isn’t among the protesters who were arrested.
Fordham University protest
On Wednesday, Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organized an encampment at the university’s Lincoln Center, urging the school to divest from Israel, the university’s weekly journal, The Fordham Ram, reported.
NYPD officers were present Wednesday afternoon but appeared only to be keeping an eye on the protest, NewsNation correspondent Brooke Shafer reported from campus.
Students received an alert at 9:52 a.m. that said “there are no disruptions to classes or operations,” The Fordham Observer reported, and the Lowenstein Center entrance was closed.
However, at 5 p.m., letters of suspension were handed out to SJP students who set up a solidarity encampment inside the center’s lobby, with directions from university administrators to leave the property, according to the university’s weekly journal.
In a statement, Fordham said the university requested the NYPD’s assistance to remove several dozen people from the building. After some time, most left, but the remaining protesters refused to identify themselves. The NYPD made 16 arrests.
NYPD considers changing protest tactics
The NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau weighed in on the issue, saying it’s considering a change in protest tactics.
“I think the larger point is really important: This is not about students expressing ideas. It’s about a change in tactics that presents a concern, a normalization and mainstreaming of rhetoric,” said Rebecca Weiner, deputy commissioner of the NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau. “I’m not just talking about language; I’m now talking about tactics, and that’s what shifted our response.”
Late Tuesday, the NYPD entered Columbia’s campus and cleared an encampment, along with Hamilton Hall, where a stream of officers used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window. Police said protesters inside presented no substantial resistance.
The demonstrators had seized the school building about 20 hours earlier, ramping up their presence on the campus from a tent encampment that had been there for nearly two weeks.
NYPD turned Columbia into ‘war zone’
Cameron Jones, a pro-Palestinian protester, responded to the “surreal” raid.
“Columbia’s surreal response to the protesters’ nonviolent takeover of ‘Hind’s Hall’ turned our campus into a war zone. The university called the NYPD to storm campus, with militarized police, brutally attacking and arresting over 100 students, with multiple hospitalizations,” Jones said. “Columbia’s attempt to oppress the movement only strengthens our resolve.”
Nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
NewsNation’s correspondent Brooke Shafer, digital producer Katie Smith and The Associated Press contributed to this report.