New York City police stormed Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University late Tuesday in response to hordes of anti-Israel protestors who have occupied the building.New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers got through the barricaded front doors and some entered through a second-floor window of the historic academic building Hamilton Hall. .School officials had confirmed earlier Tuesday per the Financial Times, “We believe that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the university," and reached out to the police to intervene. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, rioters moved in to occupy Hamilton Hall, blocking entrances and hanging a Palestinian flag out the window with a sign that said, “Free Palestine.” By afternoon they were demanding food and water to be brought into them to sustain their occupation. Police then arrested dozens of occupiers with wrist ties and lined them up along Amsterdam Avenue, a street to the south of campus, and arranged vans to take them away. Thousands of NYPD entered through the school’s main entrance at about 9 pm Tuesday night and began implementing crowd control measures, including a wall of barricades around the Columbia campus to prevent any additional protestors from entering, according to Open Source Intelligence Monitor OSINTdefender. Police then barricaded Hamilton Hall using Tactical Teams with the Strategic Response Group and Emergency Service Unit. Surrounding the university as the police operation was conducted, demonstrators shouted, “Palestine will be free”, “let the students go” and “NYPD-KKK”.University officials had requested the NYPD to intervene, and the operation was reportedly a success. The school confirmed Wednesday morning at its behest, the police arrived at about 9 pm Tuesday night, per the FT.“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,” the school said..Across the country on the West Coast, riot police stormed University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to break up a melee between Palestine and Israel supporters. Israel counter-demonstrators clashed with Hamas supporting encampments on campus, resulting in what the university’s vice-chancellor called “horrific acts of violence.”People swung umbrellas, sticks and poles at each other, Israel supporters took down anti-Israel signs and barricades, and at least one firework was thrown, per CNN. UCLA officials called the police to intervene due to the “horrific acts of violence (that) occurred at the encampment.” “We immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support,” said vice-chancellor Mary Osako.“The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.”LA police said in a statement on social media, “At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety.”Officers did not immediately break up the protest however, reported LA Times. Police did form a barricade with their bodies surrounding the riot, and Israel supporters started to siphon off around 1:40 am.
New York City police stormed Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University late Tuesday in response to hordes of anti-Israel protestors who have occupied the building.New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers got through the barricaded front doors and some entered through a second-floor window of the historic academic building Hamilton Hall. .School officials had confirmed earlier Tuesday per the Financial Times, “We believe that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the university," and reached out to the police to intervene. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, rioters moved in to occupy Hamilton Hall, blocking entrances and hanging a Palestinian flag out the window with a sign that said, “Free Palestine.” By afternoon they were demanding food and water to be brought into them to sustain their occupation. Police then arrested dozens of occupiers with wrist ties and lined them up along Amsterdam Avenue, a street to the south of campus, and arranged vans to take them away. Thousands of NYPD entered through the school’s main entrance at about 9 pm Tuesday night and began implementing crowd control measures, including a wall of barricades around the Columbia campus to prevent any additional protestors from entering, according to Open Source Intelligence Monitor OSINTdefender. Police then barricaded Hamilton Hall using Tactical Teams with the Strategic Response Group and Emergency Service Unit. Surrounding the university as the police operation was conducted, demonstrators shouted, “Palestine will be free”, “let the students go” and “NYPD-KKK”.University officials had requested the NYPD to intervene, and the operation was reportedly a success. The school confirmed Wednesday morning at its behest, the police arrived at about 9 pm Tuesday night, per the FT.“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,” the school said..Across the country on the West Coast, riot police stormed University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to break up a melee between Palestine and Israel supporters. Israel counter-demonstrators clashed with Hamas supporting encampments on campus, resulting in what the university’s vice-chancellor called “horrific acts of violence.”People swung umbrellas, sticks and poles at each other, Israel supporters took down anti-Israel signs and barricades, and at least one firework was thrown, per CNN. UCLA officials called the police to intervene due to the “horrific acts of violence (that) occurred at the encampment.” “We immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support,” said vice-chancellor Mary Osako.“The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end.”LA police said in a statement on social media, “At the request of UCLA, due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment on their campus, the LAPD is responding to assist UCLA PD, and other law enforcement agencies, to restore order and maintain public safety.”Officers did not immediately break up the protest however, reported LA Times. Police did form a barricade with their bodies surrounding the riot, and Israel supporters started to siphon off around 1:40 am.
