[News] NYPD storm ‘Hind's Hall‘ in violent raid of Columbia University

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 NYPD storm ‘Hind's Hall‘ in violent raid of Columbia University

Dozens of students were dragged away by police with their hands zip-tied
behind their backs

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

MAY 1, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/nypd-storm-hinds-hall-in-violent-raid-of-columbia-university
(Photo credit: Sydney Lee)

Dozens of student protesters
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-amass-at-columbia-as-school-threatens-to-expel-those-occupying-campus-building/>
were cleared out from Columbia University
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/04/30/columbia-university-protests-palestine-news/>’s
Hamilton Hall building by New York police late on 30 April, after storming
and occupying the building the night before as part of demonstrations in
support of Palestine.

Hundreds of police officers wearing helmets and carrying riot shields
surrounded the building, with a number of policemen climbing into Hamilton
Hall via a ramp extending from one of the police vehicles into a window of
the building.

Dozens of pro-Palestine students were detained
<https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/columbia-university-campus-protests-hamilton-hall-palestine-b2537569.html>
and dragged away from the scene with their hands zip-tied behind their
backs.

The New York Police Department had earlier issued a dispersal order for
students to vacate the building.

The administration at Columbia University released a statement saying it
had “no choice” but to bring in the police to move against the protesters.
“We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through
their actions. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall
had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice,”
the statement read.

A spokesman for the institution said the students involved in the takeover
of Hamilton Hall face possible expulsion.

Late on Monday night, dozens of Columbia students broke into Hamilton Hall,
blocking doors and windows and encamping inside.

The protesters unfurled a large banner off one of the building’s balconies,
reading “Hind’s Hall,” marking an unofficial renaming of the building
after Hind
Rajab <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24444>, the six-year-old
Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces alongside her entire family in
Gaza.

Columbia University students have demanded their institution divest funds
from Israel, show transparency about finances, and amnesty for students and
faculty involved in the protests at the university. The university has
refused the demands.

The clearing out of the university building came hours after police in
California surrounded a building that had been taken over by protesters at
Cal Poly Humboldt University. The building was renamed from Siemens Hall to
“Intifada Hall” by students. Over two dozen people were detained by police.

Dozens of student protesters were also pepper-sprayed and detained at the
University of Austin, Texas, on Monday.

Several universities across the US have witnessed an unprecedented wave of
student protests in solidarity with Palestinians and in condemnation of
Washington’s support for Israel. Many of these movements saw protest
encampments set up on university grounds.

Hundreds of these protesters, including faculty members, have been detained
in recent days for refusing to back down from their position.

Some protesters have now reached deals with their administrations,
including Northwestern University and Brown University. Brown said it would
hear its students’ demands for divestment from Israel in exchange for the
dismantling of the encampment on its grounds.

The harsh response to student protests on US campuses has prompted many to
lose faith in those institutions, which claim to nurture free speech and
expression.

The widespread student movement has spread, with universities in France
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24634>, Lebanon
<https://thecradle.co/articles/lebanese-universities-join-wave-of-global-pro-palestine-protests>,
and elsewhere taking to their campuses to denounce Israel’s genocidal war
on Gaza.
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