Police begin to detain protesters at Columbia Live TV images show that police have begun to detain protesters at Columbia. The New York Times is reporting that some students have been escorted off campus with their hands zip tied behind their backs. Some protesters are being loaded on to law enforcement buses parked outside the university. Students have not resisted arrest, according to the New York Times. New York police entered Columbia University in an apparent effort to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who seized and occupied a classroom building and have been encamped on the campus for two weeks. Columbia University officials earlier on Tuesday threatened academic expulsion of the students who seized Hamilton Hall. Hamilton Hall now entirely cleared of protesters, media report Local media are reporting that police have confirmed that all protesters have now been moved out of Hamilton Hall, the academic building that demonstrators occupied over 24 hours ago. NBC news is reporting that as many as 100 people have been detained. Live TV footage shows that a huge police presence remains around the campus. Earlier we reported that Columbia has requested that some police remain at the university until at least mid-May. As police shut down anti-Israel protests at Columbia, making dozens of arrests, students were reportedly moving north to the CUNY campus where a protest sit in was still in effect. The comprehensive police operation at Columbia has involved hundreds of officers who have held a perimeter of closed streets surrounding the university. The takeover of Hamilton Hall – named after one of America’s founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton – followed the failure of talks with university authorities aimed at winning the protesters’ agreement to dismantle an encampment of about 120 tents. What were the students demanding? Nothing less than Columbia’s divestment from companies they say profit from Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, has rejected divestment calls. But the university offered an accelerated timeline to review student divestment proposals by the institution’s Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing, the body that considers such questions. In a febrile atmosphere, protesters dismissed it as insufficient. What other factors are in play? Some Jewish students have said they have felt threatened and allege they have been subjected to antisemitic slurs. Similar complaints have been levelled at other protest-hit campuses. Protesters – some of whom are Jewish – counter that instances of antisemitism are being exaggerated and conflated with condemnation of Israel, and leveraged in an effort to snuff out legitimate criticism of the state. How much does this resonate beyond the university campus? The spectre of enduring protests, creating the impression of chaos and disorder on America’s university campuses, could undermine Joe Biden’s re-election chances. Fox News has already sensed the potential for a campaign issue, running round-the-clock footage of the scenes from Columbia in a switch of focus from the US-Mexico border, previously seen as the Republicans’ biggest potential vote-winner. Worse still for Biden, the Democratic party’s student organisation, College Democrats of America, has endorsed the protests, saying in a statement: “As representatives of youth across the country, we reserve the right to criticise our own party when it fails to represent youth voices.” By contrast, the protests were denounced on Tuesday’s by Biden’s national security spokesperson, John Kirby, who called them “absolutely the wrong approach”. More images of police loading detained students into buses outside of Columbia have come in. It’s being reported that at least 50 people were arrested after police entered the university to clear out Hamilton Hall – an academic building that was being occupied by pro-Palestine protesters. A huge number of police have now left the area around the campus, but a significant presence remains. New York police deputy commissioner, Kaz Daughtry, has posted an update saying Columbia requested assistance to “take back their campus”. He said that police were “dispersing the unlawful encampment and persons barricaded inside of university buildings and restoring order.” Former president Donald Trump called into Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News on Tuesday evening to comment on the chaos at Columbia, as live footage of police clearing Hamilton Hall aired. Trump praised the officers. “But it should never have gotten to this,” he told Hannity. “And they should have done it a lot sooner than before they took over the building because it would have been a lot easier if they were in tents rather than a building.” Columbia University requests police stay on campus until mid-May Columbia has published a letter that the university president, Minouche Shafik, wrote to the New York police department on Tuesday, requesting that they retain a presence on campus until mid-May. With the utmost regret, we request the NYPD’s help to clear all individuals from Hamilton Hall and all campus encampments. In light of the activities that occurred after the events of April 17-18, 2024, we further request that you retain a presence on campus through at least May 17, 2024 to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished. The letter goes on to say that the university trusts that police will “take care and caution when removing any individual from our campus”. The Guardian has published video of the moment that police entered the occupied building at Columbia, Hamilton Hall. Police vehicles begin to clear area outside Columbia campus Live TV images from Columbia show that a number of police vehicles have now left the campus, including at least two buses filled with detained protesters. Local media is reporting that less than two hours after the police entered Columbia, officers are now dispersing the last of the protesters. Flashbang grenades used by police on campus A police spokesperson has been speaking to CNN and told the network that officers have used flashbang grenades as they cleared the campus. A flashbang is a weapon used to disorientate – it produces a blinding flash of light and an extremely loud “bang”. The New York Times has reported that Carlos Nieves, a police department spokesperson, said “no tear gas was used inside the campus,” adding that “the N.Y.P.D. does not use tear gas.” Police reportedly fill a second bus with detained protesters A second bus has been filled with detained protesters, seated with their hands tied behind their backs, according to local media. It’s being reported that demonstrators offered no resistance as police cleared them out of the occupied Hamilton Hall. Below are some images that have come in of protesters being led on to the waiting police buses. Police presence at other New York universities Nina Lakhani On Tuesday evening, New York police began flooding the streets and erecting metal barriers in front of Columbia’s main campus, but some students – and their supporters – were allowed to continue north a mile and a half to The City University of New York (Cuny), as planned. As the protesters reached Cuny, dozens of police officers rushed to stand in front of the campus gates which were already secured with barricades. The protesters demanded they be allowed in, and nudged towards the barricades. They chanted slogans throughout including: ‘Cuny, Cuny your hands are red, 40,000 Palestinians are dead.’ Police pushed some of the protesters to the ground, and several people were arrested. One young woman wearing a hijab was in tears after a police officer charged into her. By 8pm there seemed to be hundreds of police on the scene, some were carrying truncheons and zip ties. The students were trying to find a way on to campus but were being directed into streets which were blocked off by barricades or police. We could hear lots of sirens coming from all directions. At around 8pm we could hear sirens heading towards Columbia and several buses with the word ‘corrections’ painted on them sped past. Similar buses have been used by the NYPD to transport detained protesters in recent days. At about 8.30pm reports started emerging from Columbia faculty members that a shelter in place order had been issued, as police officers in riot gear prepared to storm the campus. New York congressman denounces police intervention New York congressman Jamaal Bowman has said he is “outraged” by the level of police presence at Columbia and other New York universities. The militarization of college campuses, extensive police presence, and arrest of hundreds of students are in direct opposition to the role of education as a cornerstone of our democracy.” Bowman has called on the Columbia administration to stop the “dangerous escalation before it leads to further harm” and allow faculty back on to campus. A long line of police officers were seen climbing into the occupied building through a second-story window, using a vehicle with a ladder to gain access to the upper floor. Reuters is reporting that dozens of other officers swarmed over the nearby protest encampment, as onlooking students standing just outside the campus jeered them with shouts of “Shame, shame!” Before long, officers were seen leading handcuffed protesters to police vehicles outside campus gates. Police boarded about 50 detainees on to a bus, each of them with their hands bound behind their backs with zip ties, the entire scene illuminated with flashing red and blue lights of police vehicles. The New York Times is reporting that there were five buses in total, however it’s unclear how many were filled with detained protesters. “Free, free, free Palestine,” chanted protesters outside the building. Others yelled “let the students go”.