Police arrested dozens of Columbia University students who seized part of the school's main library on Wednesday in one of the biggest pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus since last year's wave of protests against Israel's war in Gaza.
At least 40 to 50 students, their hands cuffed with plastic zip-ties, were seen being loaded into New York Police Department vans and buses outside Butler Library as NYPD officers swept through the six-story building to round up other protesters who refused to leave.
Police arrived on campus in force at the request of Columbia officials who said the student demonstrators occupying the library's second-floor main reading room were engaged in trespassing.
Videos and photographs on social media showed protesters, most wearing masks, standing on tables, beating drums and unfurling banners saying "Strike For Gaza" and "Liberated Zone" beneath the chandeliers of the Lawrence A. Wein Reading Room.
U.S. President Donald Trump had lashed out at Columbia over pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year, saying they were antisemitic and showed a failure to protect Jewish students.
Student protesters, including some Jewish organizers, counter that Trump and fellow conservative politicians who are strongly pro-Israel are unfairly conflating pro-Palestinian protests and antisemitism.
Columbia's board of trustees has been negotiating with the Trump administration, which announced in March that it had canceled hundreds of millions of dollars of grants to the university for scientific research.
The university has said it has worked to combat antisemitism and other prejudice on its campus while seeking to fend off accusations from civil rights groups that it was giving in to government intrusions on academic freedom.
Columbia University said late on Wednesday that it had requested NYPD assistance "in securing the building," and that two of its public safety officials were hurt in the standoff.
SCUFFLE AT FRONT DOOR
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed "multiple arrests" of protesters who occupied the library but did not provide an exact number.
"Everyone has the right to peacefully protest. But violence, vandalism or destruction of property are completely unacceptable," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on social media.
Before police arrived on the scene, university public safety personnel were seen locking the front doors to the library, preventing any more students from entering the building and sparking a brief episode of pushing and shoving outside.
One student appeared to have been injured in the fracas. Another individual was seen being carried out of the building on a stretcher.
With further entry to the library barred, a growing crowd of demonstrators outside the building moved to the streets just beyond the campus gates.
One student organization representing the protesters said on social media that school security had assaulted demonstrators and acknowledged that some activists had refused to show their IDs to officials.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a collection of student groups, recirculated long-standing demands on social media on Wednesday for the university to no longer invest its $14.8 billion endowment in weapons makers and other companies that support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories.
On Monday, pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a University of Washington building, demanding the school cut ties with Boeing over its contracts with the Israeli military. The university said 34 protesters were arrested, and charges of trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct would be referred to prosecutors.
On Wednesday, it said the 21 students who were among those arrested have been suspended and banned from all of the school's campuses.
Columbia was at the forefront of a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel student protest movement that swept across U.S. campuses last year over Israel's war in Gaza, which began in 2023.
Trump, a Republican, is also trying to deport some pro-Palestinian international students at U.S. schools, saying their presence could harm U.S. foreign policy interests.
The protesters in the library also demanded the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and Columbia graduate student who remains in a Louisiana immigrant jail after he was among the first to be arrested for possible deportation.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
37 Comments
David Brent
Good to see.
Time to stamp out this nonsense.
Blacklabel
took over the library, all strong and brave!
When time to get arrested? Pulled the fire alarm and begged and pleaded and cried to be let out and released. You gotta let us go, we pulled the fire alarm!
nope, new administration not to be played with.
Enjoy arrest, jail and deportation.
wallace
Not if they are Americans.
Blacklabel
Crimes.
Not “protest”.
wallace
How do students trespass on their campus? What was the property destruction you stated?
Blacklabel
yeah those will have criminal convictions for life, and inability to attend college or get employment- over an issue that has nothing to do with Americans.
but totally worth it, huh?
Tokyo Guy
Crimes.
Not “protest”.
Maybe they should have smeared excrement on the walls, then they would get a pardon.
nickybutt
The crime here is being commited by Israel. America is bank rolling them. They have created a concentration camp out of Gaza and are commiting genoicide in the name of God. It is simply a land grab. It is illegal. Please watch Louis Theroux's "The Settler's". If you can't demonstrate against genocide then what can you demonstrate against?
Tokyo Guy
*yeah those will have criminal convictions for life, and inability to attend college or *get employment
The current US president says hi.
masterblaster
If on a visa ... deportation. Bye bye.
If a U.S. citizen ... arrested and jailed.
HopeSpringsEternal
Peaceful protests that DO NOT disturb others and their ability to safely attend class etc. ok. Apparently, this protest not so peaceful, given the arrests taking place.
Those on student visas better be careful, as the long arm of the DOJ and ICE are watching CLOSELY!
Dragon
Didn't prevent the president from being elected.
Blacklabel
he does.
With arrests and future jail and deportations that come within the authority of his employment and those he employs.
hi!
Tokyo Guy
he does.
With arrests and future jail and deportations that come within the authority of his employment and those he employs.
Employment which he was granted despite being a convicted felon. On 34 counts.
I know that's probably why you voted for him, but I just like pointing out the absolute double standard.
Rich white man: can break law with impunity and still be elected to arguably the most powerful position on the planet.
Students: Arrest them and impose what will almost certainly be a completely disproportionate punishment on them!
bass4funk
Then Jail them.
bass4funk
And mostly rich White liberals tried to take him down.
Then don’t riot, don’t cause a mess. It’s a library and a public space for everyone to learn and enjoy, not just for idiot protesters that are making things worse for themselves.
Blacklabel
Nah the lame attempts at deflecting this back to Trump are failing.
Well deserved arrests, convictions, and deportations as appropriate. Set the example so this criminal nonsense stops.
asusa tabi
Damn those typos in the headline, should read:
Dozens of students arrested in ANTSEMITIC protest at Columbia University
u_s__reamer
The timeless quote that those who forget the past will be condemned to repeat it, is now being confirmed in real time before our very eyes by another wave of government repression to shut down free speech again. The Berkeley Free Speech Movement of the 1960s left its legacy in the immortal words of Mario Savio who made one of the greatest speeches in the history of American democracy, a speech that all American children should learn by heart and one which awaits the day when it will carved in marble in every state capital: "There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus -- and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it -- that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all!!"
These words have a new meaning today for those brave people, young and old, who recognize bestial mass-murder when they see it
CaptDingleheimer
BlackLabel:
In all likelihood, these students will get a year of probation. If they don't get in trouble with the law during this period, their charges will be dropped. Even if they are convicted, it's a misdemeanor. The 'Clean Slate Act' in New York State automatically seals records on a misdemeanor after 3 years (as long as they keep a clean record during that time).
Semantics, I know, but they aren't screwed for life.
Blacklabel
I don’t want them screwed for life.
I want them to be held accountable for their unlawful actions for once.
and quickly come to the conclusion this is unacceptable behavior in our country and stop it (citizen) or get deported/leave (non citizen).
bass4funk
You are making an apples to grapes argument
Cephus
Don't we still have universities in Gaza?
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
At this point, what can you say? The battle lines have clearly been drawn and it is getting increasingly hard to sit on the fence. America picked it side long ago, how about the other countries?
Nibek32
America looks a lot like Russia and China these days. Anyone who doesn’t align with the potus’ politics will be imprisoned. Goodbye freedom.
Nibek32
i wouldn’t consider freedom of speech nonsense. You Russian nationalists are all about it though.
Aly Rustom
Exactly!
garymalmgren
On Wednesday, it said the 21 students who were among those arrested have been suspended and banned from all of the school's campuses.
Looks like their education is down the drain
Nibek32
It’s interesting that Americans in their 70s-80s were part of the anti war movement for Vietnam, but now favor repressive politics and engaging in war with innocent civilians.
History really does repeat itself.
Tamarama
Blacklabel
The US has, in this immediate conflict, provided Military Aid, Intelligence sharing, Diplomatic Support, Post War planning initiatives.
Including:
Over 15,000 bombs, 57,000 155mm artillery shells, and advanced munitions such as JDAM kits and bunker-buster bombs. In August 2024, a $20 billion arms deal was approved, featuring F-15 fighter jets and other military equipment.
The U.S. has deployed multiple naval assets, including carrier strike groups and ballistic missile submarines, to the Eastern Mediterranean. U.S. fighter jets have participated in intercepting aerial threats directed at Israel.
A dedicated CIA task force has been established to provide Israel with intelligence on Hamas leadership and operations. U.S. aircraft have conducted reconnaissance missions over Gaza, contributing significantly to Israel's situational awareness.
The U.S. has consistently used its veto power in the UN Security Council to block resolutions calling for immediate ceasefires in Gaza, citing concerns over perceived imbalances and the need to address Hamas's actions.
Preliminary talks between the U.S. and Israel have explored the possibility of a U.S.-led temporary administration in Gaza post-conflict. This proposed governance would exclude Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, aiming to stabilize the region until a sustainable Palestinian governance structure is established.
Wasabi
Remember when the USA was a country of free speech, freedom and protector of those values?
Yes, me neither.
Blacklabel
No, I just don’t believe 100 American students at one university would be so inflamed over this “issue” as to take over a library and commit multiple crimes.
so either (a) not students at all (b) paid Antifa type activists (c) not American citizens or (d) combinations of a through c.
M3M3M3
The US has never been any different than China or Russia. When your speech begins to threaten the true holders of power in society, they will crush you regardless of any laws or rights you might think you have.
The mistake that people in democracies often make is believing that the permission they have to criticize the president or elected officials extends to criticizing those who hold real power. It doesn't. The kids at Columbia are learning this the hard way.
I'veSeenFootage
Yes, we all agree pardoning the january 6th criminals was abhorrent!
I'veSeenFootage
Yes and not being pardoned by a corrupt president! Don't know why you keep talking about january 6th, but I agree.
I'veSeenFootage
Nah it wasn't. The vast majority of people aren't for the pardons of people who attacked the capitol, smeared feces on the walls and violently assaulted cops. Only deeply troubled idiots support that. And only deeply troubled dishonest idiots would then try to virtue signal by cheering on the arrests of pro-palestinian protestors.
MilesTeg
Why not just demonstrate legally in a public location peacefully. Why bring it on campus where it disrupts classes, disturbs students, and causes further campus mayhem.