Police removed anti-Israel protesters from Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday after the demonstrating students set up an encampment on a campus lawn.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik sent a message to the student body, saying that these “extraordinary steps” were necessary “because these are extraordinary circumstances.”
“Out of an abundance of concern for the safety of Columbia’s campus, I authorized the New York Police Department to begin clearing the encampment from the South Lawn of Morningside campus that had been set up by students in the early hours of Wednesday morning,” Shafik said.
Video from the campus showed officers loading dozens of protesters onto police buses.
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Dozens of protesters camped out in tents on school grounds since early Wednesday, calling on the university to divest itself from companies that have ties to Israel as Shafik testified on Capitol Hill regarding antisemitism on Columbia’s campus.
The university had locked down its campus to ID holders only in anticipation of unrest relating to Shafik’s testimony.
Shafik said in the message that those who established the encampment “violated a long list of rules and policies.”
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The university provided multiple notices of these violations, according to Shafik, who said that the involved students rejected all the university’s attempts to resolve the situation.
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“This is a challenging moment and these are steps that I deeply regret having to take,” Shafik said. “I encourage us all to show compassion and remember the values of empathy and respect that draws us together as a Columbia community.”
