Police intervene in occupation at Columbia University
New York police raided the campus of Columbia University on Tuesday evening local time. Since then, the campus, which is normally open to passersby, has been completely closed off. AFP journalists on the scene saw a police truck approaching the occupied building with a ladder, and officers climbing up to get inside a window.
Hind’s hall
Columbia’s spokesperson called it an “escalation” and threatened to remove the occupiers from the university. He accused them of “vandalism, burglary and blocking access” to Hamilton Hall. The building has been renamed “Hind’s Hall” by the pro-Palestinian group “Columbia University Apartheid Divest”, in tribute to a six-year-old girl who was killed in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the head of Columbia University, Minouche Shafik, has asked the New York Police Department in a letter to remain on campus “at least until May 17, 2024.” The purpose of that presence is “to maintain order and ensure that no tent camp is established.”
