Demonstrators take over Hamilton Hall as anti-war protests escalate.
Students have taken over a Columbia University building as conflict escalates between protesters against Israel’s war on Gaza and university authorities.
Protesters marched to occupy Hamilton Hall at the university in New York early Tuesday after the administration said it had begun suspending students on Monday who refused to meet a deadline for dissolution. The move threatens to escalate the standoff that has sparked anti-Gaza war protests across the country.
Video footage showed protesters at Columbia’s Manhattan campus early Tuesday crossing their arms in front of Hamilton Hall and carrying furniture and metal barricades toward the building.
Dozens of protesters barricaded the entrances and unfurled a Palestinian flag from a window. Hamilton Hall, which protesters have now dubbed “Hind Hall,” is one of several buildings previously occupied during a civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest on campus in 1968.
“An autonomous group reclaimed Hind’s Hall, formerly known as ‘Hamilton Hall,’ in honor of Hind Rajab, a martyr murdered at the age of six by the genocidal Israeli state,” said Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest (CUAD). . a coalition representing pro-Palestinian student organizations, published on X.
‼️ OFFICIAL CUAD PRESS RELEASE: Occupation of Hamilton Hall pic.twitter.com/VHpyjtjPjU
– CU Apartheid Divest (@ColumbiaBDS) April 30, 2024
Student radio station WKCR-FM aired a play-by-play of the takeover of the hall, hours after protesters ignored Monday’s 2 p.m. deadline and had to leave the encampment of about 120 tents or face suspension . Columbia says it has now begun to act on that threat.
The demonstrators called it quits
“We demand that our voices be heard against the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza,” their post said, adding that they view Columbia University as “complicit in this violence and that is why we are protesting.”
Universities across the U.S. are grappling with increasing protests ahead of year-end graduation ceremonies.
Some are continuing negotiations while others have resorted to ultimatums and violence, leading to clashes with police.