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New York officers stand by as arrests at the Columbia University campus on Tuesda

The tense standoff at Columbia University appeared to be heading toward a conclusion late Tuesday night as NYPD officers in riot gear gathered near the university’s east gate. Pro-Palestinian protesters, who had been occupying the area since April 17 to demand a cease-fire in Gaza and Columbia University’s divestment from companies that profit from the war, remained steadfast, chanting, “We will not move. We will not bend.”

Initially, the protests began with 50 tents set up on campus by students, but the NYPD cleared them out the following day. However, the protesters returned and escalated their efforts by taking over Hamilton Hall, a building on campus, prompting university officials to seek police assistance.

The occupation was prepared, with the building draped in pro-Palestinian banners, a rope system for supplying the interior, and even renamed to honor Hind, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza. At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams claimed that “professional outside agitators” were likely behind the takeover of Hamilton Hall, but he did not provide evidence for this assertion.

By Wednesday, officials had only identified one person potentially involved in the takeover of Hamilton Hall, but that individual had not been arrested.

But the die had been cast.

Within hours, Columbia University became the site of a dramatic confrontation that concluded just before midnight. Police moved in and detained over 100 protesters, including 40 to 50 who had occupied Hamilton Hall. The hall had been the focal point of the protest, adorned with pro-Palestinian banners and transformed by the protesters to symbolize their cause.

Following the police intervention, the scene was cleared, and the tense standoff that had lasted for weeks came to an abrupt end. The university’s campus, which had been the site of passionate demonstrations, was left to return to a semblance of normalcy.

At the same time that police were dispersing protesters at Columbia University, another police action took place at City College of New York, leading to the arrests of more than 100 additional protesters. The total number of people arrested across both campuses and their university affiliations is still being determined.

As the police cleared protesters from Hamilton Hall, Debbie Becher, a sociology professor at Barnard College, which is part of Columbia University, expressed outrage at the police response.

“It’s unconscionable,” Becher said. “They’re sending hundreds of police after our students.”

• In a statement, Columbia University expressed that the overnight takeover of Hamilton Hall on Monday was the tipping point in the ongoing standoff.
• “We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions,” the university said on Tuesday. “After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice.”
• The confrontation between police and protesters began around 9:01 p.m. on Tuesday, at 113th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, three blocks south of the university gate. NBC News reporters on the scene noted that police had set up barricades as they faced off with the protesters.
• “Free Palestine! Free Palestine!” the protesters chanted as police officers, many holding plastic zip ties, approached them.
• The police then instructed the protesters to disperse.
• “If you refuse to disperse, you will be placed under arrest on the charge of disorderly conduct,” the voice of an officer echoed through the street.

While the protesters heckled the police and chanted “Shame! Shame!” the initial wave of officers arriving at the intersection began restraining protesters by cuffing their hands behind their backs with plastic zip ties.

Four minutes later, around 9:05 p.m., a larger group of police in riot gear advanced up Amsterdam Avenue, prompting the protesters’ cries to intensify into a roar.

Some protesters attempted to use the barricades, originally set up by the police to contain them, to prevent the approaching officers from advancing. Others formed human chains and fell to the ground, attempting to make it more challenging for police to move them.

“I watched as the police penned us in and began aggressively pushing and shoving us,” said protester Soph Askanse, a junior who is Jewish. “One of them elbowed me in the chest while trying to separate us.”

By 9:12 p.m., the police had breached their own barricades and were advancing towards the east gate of the campus at Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street. By 9:18 p.m., they were face to face with the protesters gathered by the gate

Demonstrators link arms to protect their fellow protesters barricaded inside Hamilton Hall from the NYPD on Tuesday

For about two minutes, both sides stared each other down at the entrance to Columbia University.

Fifty-six years earlier, Columbia students protesting the Vietnam War had occupied Hamilton Hall and clashed with police near the same spot. In that past conflict, the police had fought their way up the steps of the stately building to remove the protesters barricaded inside.

As night fell on Tuesday, the current protesters linked arms outside Hamilton Hall and listened as one of their own sang. By the time police arrived, the protesters were holding a Palestinian flag within their group and chanting as officers cleared bystanders from the steps.

The NYPD breached the building, deploying a flash-bang device to clear the 40 to 50 protesters who had barricaded the front door with furniture on the first floor.

The NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit also used an armored vehicle equipped with a Mobile Adjustable Ramp System (MARS) to send another group of officers to access the upper floors of Hamilton Hall. Clad in helmets and bulletproof vests, the officers entered through a second-floor window one by one, starting around 9:20 p.m.