Columbia in Chaos: Hundreds of NYPD Officers Move in at University, Use Ladder to Breach Hamilton Hall

On Monday, after nearly two weeks of students creating protest encampments in support of Hamas, the terrorist organization in Gaza, and after hundreds of arrests and exhausted efforts to negotiate, Columbia University administrators gave the demonstrators a deadline to voluntarily vacate their tent city, threatening suspensions. 

As the 2 p.m. deadline came and went, nothing was done to clear the encampments, as protest organizers vowed not to back down, saying they would only be removed by force.

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Overnight, the situation escalated when Hamilton Hall was taken over by force with protesters breaking windows, preventing the building’s prior occupants from freely leaving (although they were released in short order), and barricading themselves inside while hanging antisemitic “intifada” banners.

After much chaos, bigoted acts and intimidation against Jewish students , and other performative nonsense, the time has come for the NYPD to restore order and peace to the university campus. 

Just after 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, hundreds of riot-gear-clad officers stormed the university grounds carrying pepper spray and zip-tie handcuffs. The raid comes after Columbia’s administration requested the NYPD come onto the campus and make arrests following the recent escalation in the protester’s tactics. 

Chaotic scenes broke out as police and protestors struggled over barricades, and one punk hit a police officer with an empty water jug, resulting in arrest. 

Reports are circulating that NYPD tactical units are using a “crane” extension ladder to breach the barricaded Hamilton Hall and enter through a window. 

The Trump Team is calling attention to President Joe Biden’s absence as NYPD breaches the building taken over by rioters. 

Dozens of protestors have begun to be rounded up, arrested, and carried away by NYPD units.

A dramatic spectacle unfolds into the night as protestors set off flares. Independent reporter Katie Smith said that the demonstrators outside of the gates are tossing bottles of water to the ones inside campus. 

This is a developing story that RedState will continue to follow.