NYPD Arrests Dozens Of Pro-Palestine Protesters After Columbia Occupation
Roughly 80 pro-Palestine protesters were arrested on Wednesday night after occupying a library on Columbia University’s campus.
Demonstrators rushed through Butler Library’s security gate at about 3:00 p.m., hanging banners, tagging shelves with graffiti, chanting pro-Palestine slogans, and renaming it the “Basel Al-Araj Popular University,” a reference to the Palestinian writer who was killed by the Israeli army in 2017.
By 7:00 p.m., the school had called in the police. A volatile scene had already developed, as a crowd of supporters gathered outside the building and public safety officers prevented students from leaving the library without showing identification.