Pro-Palestinian protesters forced their way into an academic building at Columbia University early Tuesday, hours after the school suspended students who ignored an order to break up their encampments and leave, reports say.
The occupation began shortly after midnight.
Videos seemed to show protesters creating a barricade with metal chairs outside Hamilton Hall after they entered the building, ABC News said.
Protest posters were unfurled from a balcony.
One said “STUDENT INTIFADA,” the Columbia Spectator reported. Intifada in Arabic means uprising, which has been used by Palestinians for decades.
Another banner read “Hind’s Hall,” referring to Hind Rajab, the six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza during an Israeli military operation in January.
The Spectator said the protesters inside the hall — the center of campus protests in the 1960s — were using tables, chairs and zip-ties to prevent anyone from getting in.
The NYPD said its officers remained off-campus and have not yet been asked to intervene. There have been no arrests.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik on Monday morning said negotiations with student protesters had broken down and that they were told in writing they had until 2 p.m. to leave the quad or risk suspension. The deadline was ignored.
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