Police Act to End Pro-Palestine Occupation of Columbia University Building, Students Involved Face Expulsion

NYPD officers arrest protester students as they evict a building that had been barricaded by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, in New York City on April 30, 2024. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

The New York Police Department entered Hamilton Hall on April 30 and began arresting pro-Palestine protestors who had begun illegally occupying the school building the day before.

Hundreds of protestors outside the Ivy League institution chanted, “Let the students go.”

“We made the decision, early in the morning, that this was a law enforcement matter and that the NYPD were best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response,” said Columbia University spokesperson Ben Chang.

“We believe that the group that broke into and occupied the building is led by individuals who are not affiliated with the University. “

When Maria DeGrasso was arrested on April 18 along with 107 other students for camping on Columbia University’s lawn in support of the Palestine cause, school administrators suspended her.

The 19-year-old sophomore has been couch surfing with friends ever since being released from police custody because the suspension includes her dorm room at Barnard.

“I’m trying to get work done,” Ms. DeGrasso told The Epoch Times. “I have lovely professors who are helping me figure this out, and I’m protesting as much as I can. I have a moral obligation to continue protesting.”

Ms. DeGrasso, who is undeterred by the threat of expulsion, was among the hundreds of people who lined up outside Columbia University’s Dodge Hall on 116 Street and Broadway on April 30 and marched to Hamilton Hall on the corner of 116 Street and Amsterdam, where they waved to their fellow pro-Palestinian protestors who began occupying the building last night.

Columbia University student Maria DeGrasso was arrested on April 18 and suspended. Juliette Fairley/The Epoch Times

A Palestinian flag was perched on the roof of Hamilton Hall, which contains mostly offices and some classrooms. The occupiers renamed it Hinds Hall after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who died in January.

“Columbia is refusing to negotiate and we need to make them listen so we will continue to be peaceful and firm,” Ms. DeGrassso said.

“We will not back down. It’s necessary to have changes in our protest techniques in order to have Columbia University listen and continue to negotiate.” 

Negotiations Break Down

Talks between university officials and student protest leaders broke down on April 29 after school negotiators rejected their demands to disclose and divest from all financial ties to Israel.

Their demands also include amnesty for students and faculty, ending alleged “land grabs” in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City and in Palestine, that there be no policing on the Columbia University campus, and no academic ties with Israeli universities.

“Protests have to cause disruption to work,” Ms. DeGrasso said. “If we were sitting silently, no one would notice, and this issue is too important to gloss over.”

Some 15,000 out of a larger student population of 37,000 are scheduled to graduate on May 15, and university officials are managing the disruption in increments.

After pro-Palestine protestors vandalized property, broke windows and doors in Hamilton Hall, and blockaded entrances, the university limited media access to the campus.

At first, encampment participants faced suspension. Now, expulsion is a risk.

“Students occupying the building face expulsion,” Mr. Chang said during a virtual press briefing at 5 p.m. “We gave everyone in the encampment the opportunity to leave peacefully. By committing to abide by university policies, they would be allowed to complete the semester. Students who did not commit to the terms we offered are suspended.” 

According to Ms. DeGrasso, students are already receiving email notifications from university officials.

Riva Feinstein, 60, counter-protesting outside Columbia University campus on April 30, 2024 Juliette Fairley/The Epoch Times

When Riva Feinstein, 60, was in college, she attended Equal Rights Amendment rallies. She felt compelled to join the pro-Israel counter-protestors in front of Columbia University.

“I want to be a voice for the hostages and a voice for sanity, and I can’t stand what’s happening here right now,” Ms. Feinstein told The Epoch Times.

“I think students that were in the encampment and now Hamilton Hall should have the highest level of action taken by the university against them, and if they broke the law, they should be prosecuted.”

In November 2023, Hamas released 105 of the 253 hostages they captured during their Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on southern Israel.

This week, Israel offered a 40-day truce in return for the release of hostages. Hamas has yet to accept or reject the offer.

Ms. DeGrasso, however, isn’t confident that a ceasefire will improve the situation in Gaza because of what’s at stake.

“Palestine is a country and Palestinians are systematically oppressed and have been for the last 75 years,” she added. “We’ve been taught to care about these social issues, and if Columbia wants to claim they support our education, then they should understand this is equally important to our education as class would be, if not more.”