Anti-Israel protesters occupying an encampment at Columbia University took over an administrative building on April 30.
Video showed protesters carrying barricades into Hamilton Hall and smashing glass doors as chants were heard.
In response, the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) called for protecting the encampment after the university’s threats.
#NOW Glass doors into Hamilton Hall inside Columbia were smashed up, protesters stormed in occupying the building, barricading doors with metal gates, blocking entrances with wooden tables and chairs, and zip-tying doors shut.pic.twitter.com/dXxErABRWL
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) April 30, 2024
“Student organizers have called on everyone to come to Columbia TONIGHT and defend the encampment after administration’s threats this morning,” WOL wrote online.
Protesters hung Palestinian posters and banners reading “Intifada” and calling for a free Palestine from river to sea.
“Free, free, free, free, Palestine. From the river to the sea,” they chanted.
This came after Columbia suspended students and removed an initial April 17th encampment, but protesters reestablished it.
Similar encampments emerged at other universities, including UCLA, Yale, Harvard, GW and MIT, amid rising tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian student groups on campuses nationwide.
