No NYPD sweep overnight at Columbia pro-Gaza encampment, university president says

The pro-Gaza encampment at Columbia University persisted Friday, after a deadline for students to clear the lawn of a series of colorful tents expired.

“There is a rumor that the NYPD has been invited to campus this evening,” university officials said overnight Thursday. “This rumor is false.”

“The talks have shown progress and are continuing as planned,” it continued.

For the last week, a small group of administrators and student organizers have been meeting to iron out a deal to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment. Students are demanding the university divest from Israel and reverse all disciplinary action against antiwar advocates.

After university officials announced they were making “important progress” with representatives for the encampment, they extended an initial Tuesday night cutoff for conversations by 48 hours.

“We have our demands; they have theirs,” Columbia spokesman Ben Chang briefed media Thursday evening. A formal process is underway and continues.”

During a general assembly at the encampment overnight, organizers told student protesters there was no longer an increased police threat, but expressed a lack of trust in communications from university officials, the student outlet BWOG reported from inside the closed-off tent demonstration.

The encampment first crept up while President Minouche Shafik was in Washington, D.C. testifying before Congress on antisemitism. Within 30 hours later, university officially called the police, who arrested more than 100 protesters on campus.

While some Jewish groups and Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have called on the university to take action against campus unrest, Shafik has faced a deluge of criticism by many students and faculty for bringing in riot gear onto campus for the first time in decades.

On Thursday, Columbia students filed a civil rights complaint through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, demanding an investigation into the university’s treatment of Palestinian students, including the use of police.