नवीनतम
Police arrest dozens of Gaza protesters from Columbia University
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: New York Police Department (NYPD) officers entered a Columbia University building held by pro-Palestinian protesters late Tuesday amid reports that dozens of people have been taken into custody.
Police entered Hamilton Hall from a second-floor window after using a mobile ladder to access the facility just after 9 p.m. local time (0100GMT Wednesday). Television footage aired by CNN showed dozens of officers in riot gear entering the building, with some carrying zip-tie restraints and heavy-duty bolt cutters.
At least one police bus filled with detained demonstrators was seen in video footage leaving Columbia's campus with police operations ongoing.
The building was cleared of demonstrators about two hours after the operation began, and over 100 people were taken into custody, according to multiple reports.
Protesters entered Hamilton Hall, which they have renamed "Hind's Hall" in memory of 6-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab, who was brutally killed in Gaza, early Tuesday morning and maintained they would not leave the building unless their demands are met.
They and another group that has been staging an encampment on a Columbia lawn are seeking to have Columbia divest from Israeli firms and condemn Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip. Columbia President Minouche Shafik has maintained the school will not divest.
Columbia's protests began in April and have served as a flashpoint for the wider anti-war movement after Shafik asked the NYPD to deploy to the school's campus on April 18, when over 100 people were taken into custody in an attempt to clear an encampment.
Demonstrators quickly adapted, however, and opened a new sit-in on another university lawn.
