Columbia students occupy NYC campus building in pro-Palestinian protest

Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.

Video footage showed protesters on Columbia's Manhattan campus locking arms in front of Hamilton Hall early Tuesday and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building, one of several that was occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protest on the campus.

The student radio station, WKCR-FM, broadcast a play-by-play of the hall's takeover — which occurred nearly 12 hours after Monday's 2 p.m. ET deadline for the protesters to leave an encampment of around 120 tents or face suspension.

The protesters said they were renaming the building "Hind's Hall," after Hind Rajab, a child killed earlier this year along with several members of her family in Gaza City. Rajab was in a vehicle that Palestinians say got caught in Israeli military fire, and she pleaded with first responders on a cellphone call to come to their rescue.

Representatives for the university did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment early Tuesday.

In a post on X, protestors said they planned to remain at the hall until the university conceded to the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition's three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.

The White House took notice of the latest development at Columbia.

"President [Joe] Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful," Andrew Bates, White House deputy press secretary, said in a statement. "Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful — it is wrong."

Universities across the U.S. are grappling with how to clear out encampments as commencement ceremonies approach, with some continuing negotiations and others turning to force and ultimatums that have resulted in clashes with police. Some demonstrations have also arisen outside the U.S. in solidarity with Palestinians, including at the University of British Columbia's Point Grey campus in Vancouver and at McGill University in Montreal.

Demonstrators are sparring over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll, and the number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000 as the final days of class wrap up. The outcry is forcing colleges to reckon with their financial ties to Israel, as well as their support for free speech.

Yale authorities on Tuesday morning cleared a protesters' encampment after students heeded final warnings to leave, university officials said. No arrests were reported. Demonstrators said on social media that they were moving their gathering to a sidewalk area. The encampment was set up Sunday, six days after police arrested nearly 50 people, including 44 students, and took down dozens of tents.

Also Tuesday, police cleared an encampment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and detained about 30 people. At the University of Connecticut, police made arrests after protesters refused orders to remove tents Tuesday morning.

Dozens of people were arrested Monday during protests at universities in Texas, Utah, Virginia and New Jersey, while Columbia said hours before the takeover of Hamilton Hall that it had started suspending students. At the University of Texas at Austin, 79 people involved in the Monday protest were jailed, according to the Travis County sheriff's department, most were charged with criminal trespass.

The plight of students who have been arrested has become a central part of protests, with the students and a growing number of faculty demanding amnesty for protesters. At issue is whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students through their adult lives.