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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">NYPD storm ‘Hind's Hall‘ in violent raid of Columbia University</h1><p class="gmail-">Dozens of students were dragged away by police with their hands zip-tied behind their backs</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span>MAY 1, 2024 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/nypd-storm-hinds-hall-in-violent-raid-of-columbia-university">https://thecradle.co/articles/nypd-storm-hinds-hall-in-violent-raid-of-columbia-university</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="http://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/5891f7f4-0795-11ef-9dba-00163e02c055.jpeg" alt="" width="464" height="261" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo credit: Sydney Lee)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span><p>Dozens of <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-amass-at-columbia-as-school-threatens-to-expel-those-occupying-campus-building/">student protesters</a> were cleared out from<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/04/30/columbia-university-protests-palestine-news/"> Columbia University</a>’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. </p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>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. </p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>Dozens of pro-Palestine students were <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/columbia-university-campus-protests-hamilton-hall-palestine-b2537569.html">detained</a> and dragged away from the scene with their hands zip-tied behind their backs. </p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>The New York Police Department had earlier issued a dispersal order for students to vacate the building. </p><p>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. </p><p>A spokesman for the institution said the students involved in the takeover of Hamilton Hall face possible expulsion. </p><p>Late on Monday night, dozens of Columbia students broke into Hamilton Hall, blocking doors and windows and encamping inside. </p><p>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 <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24444">Hind Rajab</a>, the six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces alongside her entire family in Gaza. </p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div> <p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>Dozens of student protesters were also pepper-sprayed and detained at the University of Austin, Texas, on Monday. </p><p>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. </p><p>Hundreds of these
protesters, including faculty members, have been detained in recent days
for refusing to back down from their position. </p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>The widespread student movement has spread, with universities in <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/24634">France</a>, <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/lebanese-universities-join-wave-of-global-pro-palestine-protests">Lebanon</a>, and elsewhere taking to their campuses to denounce Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. </p></span></div></div></div></div>
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