Columbia students escorted from Butler Library in handcuffs after short-lived occupation
Gaza protesters with their faces fully covered in keffiyehs occupied the library until they were cleared by Public Safety officers.
About 100 student protesters on Wednesday afternoon took over Columbia University’s Butler Library, bringing signs, chanting, their faces and heads wrapped in keffiyehs, preventing students from studying during the crucial year end finals period. Another 100 were outside trying to get in to use the library for study.
Columbia University administrators were quick to quell the protest, which marks a stark difference from last spring when student protesters and outside agitators set up a Gaza camp in the quad, took over an administrative building, prevented students from attending class, menaced and threatened Jewish students, and brought campus life to a halt. Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and her daughter joined the protests. Her daughter was suspended.
The school was impotent to put a stop to it and eventually called in the NYPD to clear the building. The aftermath of that mess led to the resignation of the school’s president as well as the interim president who came after and the suspension of $400 million in federal funding that was frozen by the Trump administration.
Barnard College student Shoshana Aufzien shared footage from inside Butler Library as students stormed in with banners shouting “free Palestine.” Students attempting to study looked on helplessly as they were essentially barricaded by the student protesters and prevented from doing their work.
Aufzien reported that “protesters have completely occupied the main reading room of Butler Library.” This is the main library on campus and sits at the south end of the quad.
Officials had initially tried to keep the protesting mob from storming into the building.
Eyal Yakoby shared footage of protesters with covered faces banging on drums and creating a severe disturbance.
She reported that “Public Safety officers are standing by. Protesters are chanting ‘min el-maiyeh lel mayieh, Falastin arabieh’ (‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be Arab’). They’re draping banners from the bookshelves, distributing stickers and pamphlets glorifying Oct 7, and vandalizing Butler Library. None of the protesters have been removed. It’s reading week and they’re harassing and forcing out students who were peacefully studying.”
As students waited outside, unable to enter the building, Public Safety officers declared that the occupying students would be “arrested for trespassing” if they refused to show their identification. The establishment of a Public Safety force on campus was a condition of the Trump administration, which made several demands of the school before they would even consider the restoration of funds. In recent days, the school has fired some 180 researchers claiming that the loss of funding forced the terminations.
The chanting and stamping continued despite the threats of arrest.
Protesters tried to stampede through Public Safety officers to get out the door without being identified or arrested.
The reaction from university administrators was different than that the students experienced in 2024. Instead of allowing the occupation to drag on, Public Safety officers arrested students and led them out of the building in handcuffs.
Columbia issued a statement that was unequivocal in its condemnation, saying “it is completely unacceptable that some individuals are choosing to disrupt academic activities as our students are studying and preparing for final exams. These disruptions of our campus and academic activities will not be tolerated. Individuals found to be in violation of University Rules and policies will face disciplinary consequences.”
At least two Columbia University students, one a recent grad, have been slated for deportation by the Trump administration over their antisemitic on campus activities. Their cases are both currently moving through the courts. At the height of the student protests, a leader of Palestinian terror group Hamas thanked the student protesters, calling them the “student flood,” on American college campuses for aiding in their efforts to eradicate Israel. The terror attack carried out by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023 was called the Al-Aqsa Flood.