Pro-Hamas Protesters Attack NYPD Chief
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I started posting this here but I’m not sure anyone saw it. It’s looking like there might be some more arrests made tonight at Columbia. Video shows police have gathered outside the campus.

Police have also reportedly announced the charges that students inside and outside the building will face.

Access to the campus has been cut off: Students are now gathering outside the occupied building.

Students wearing keffiyehs are beginning to gather outside Hamilton Hall. One is wearing goggles — perhaps in anticipation of tear gas.

Gov. Kathy Hochul put out a video about an hour ago (as I write this) talking about the protests at Columbia. She seems to be on board with taking action to end this so that graduation can proceed as intended. Honestly, this would have been more helpful if she said this last week when things began escalating. 

Another video of police gathering outside the campus. As always, there is nothing that leftists love more than shouting at the police.

And Columbia has sent out a warning to students to avoid the area:

It reads: “Shelter in place for your safety due to heightened activity on the Morningside campus. Non-compliance may result in disciplinary action. Avoid the area until further notice.”

There is another police action taking place at CUNY right now. Protesters there are being arrested. I’m not going to post video of that here because it will confuse things, but it’s happening.

It’s not clear if this imminent police raid was requested by Columbia President Shafik or if this is being driven by Mayor Adams who made a point of saying just a couple hours ago that the building takeovers needed to end.

Rebecca Weiner, deputy commissioner for the NYPD’s counterterrorism bureau, described the takeover as “far beyond first amendment protected speech and peaceful protest.”

“We are urging people to take this opportunity to leave Hamilton Hall,” she said.

Mayor Eric Adams (D) was more direct: “This must end now.”

That’s pretty much everything that has happened up to the moment I’m writing this. I’ll keep an eye on it and update this post as things develop. 

Update (Ed): John may update this post in more detail later, but since I’m around, I’ll add this major update. Columbia finally and formally asked the NYPD to bring an end to this situation, and they arrived in force:

Columbia University has released a statement addressing its authorization to allow the NYPD on campus, saying the decision was “made to restore safety and order to our community.”

In its statement, the university said after they learned protesters had entered Hamilton Hall last night and “occupied, vandalized, and blockaded” it, they were left with “no choice” but to allow the police in. The university also said in a statement that they believe “that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University.”

“Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation,” the university’s statement continued.

Hundreds of police officers entered Columbia, and they mean business:

Let’s see how far they’re willing to go. Protesters outside the building are refusing to disperse and are linking arms to defy orders to do so, which means we can expect a lot of pepper spray and other non-lethal compliance strategies deployed in the next couple of hours. We may not get a good look at the success of this mission until tomorrow morning. 

Update: It’s happening.

That is a lot of police officers.

The arrests begin. Lots of shrieking. There’s a guy rolling down the steps and another guy laying on the ground like he’s hurt. But then he hops up. By the end of this clip it looks like police have control of the door and are entering the building.

I don’t know what to make of this.

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