Columbia University threatens to expel student protesters who occupied administration building
Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war on college campuses nationwide. The school promised they would face expulsion.
The occupation at Columbia — where protesters shrugged off an ultimatum to abandon a tent encampment Monday or be suspended — unfolded as other universities stepped up efforts to clear out encampments. Police swept through some campuses, spurring confrontations with protesters and plenty of arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders have struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life.
And as cease-fire negotiations appeared to gain steam Tuesday, it wasn’t clear whether those talks would inspire campus protesters to ease their efforts.
Protesters on Columbia's Manhattan campus locked arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carried furniture and metal barricades to the building, among several that were occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest. Posts on an Instagram page for protest organizers shortly after midnight urged people to protect the encampment and join them at Hamilton Hall. A “Free Palestine” banner hung from a window.
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“An autonomous group reclaimed Hind’s Hall, previously known as ‘Hamilton Hall,’ in honor of Hind Rajab, a martyr murdered at the hands of the genocidal Israeli state at the age of six years
