Columbia university: Dozens of student protesters arrested during sit-in

Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters were arrested by the New York police deportment after taking over an academic hall at the Columbia University campus.

Videos uploaded to X by Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine show police in riot gear barricading Hamilton Hall, and entering the building through on of the windows.

It was the university that authorised the raid after protestors refused to disperse before a given deadline. The university said  it was “left with no choice” after the hall was “occupied, vandalised and blockaded”.

Nearly 24 hours after the sit-in started, police handcuffed protestors and led them out onto buses, as students nearby shouted ‘shame on you’.

Police said protesters have been cleared from the campus, including a tent camp set up on the university’s lawns for nearly two weeks.

The university in upper Manhattan has been a focal point of student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, demanding that the university divest from Israel.

Over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.