The NYPD Has Mobilized, but Will Columbia University Ask Them to Clear Encampment As Deadline Expires?

Protestors occupying the campus of Columbia University in New York for nearly two weeks were given a 2 p.m. deadline to clear their "tent city" on Monday. The notice to vacate came after negotiations between the pro-Hamas group and the school failed as president Minouche Shafik said in a statement, "Regretfully, we were not able to come to an agreement," and that "the University will not divest from Israel."

The university notified students that they would be suspended if they did not cooperate. The letter, shared by the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, said:

It is important for you to know that the university has already identified many students in the encampment. If you do not leave by 2pm, you will be suspended pending further investigation.
If you voluntarily leave by 2pm, identify yourself to a university officials, and sign the provided form where you commit to abide by all university policies through June 30, 2025, or the date of the conferral of your degree, whichever is earlier, you will be eligible to complete the semester in good standing.

The letter also stated that the university would use "internal options to end this crisis as soon as possible.”

Predictably, organizers have responded in defiance.

Student organizer Sueda Dolat said at a press conference:

We will not be moved unless by force.

Around a thousand protestors have encircled the encampment, chanting "intifada revolution."

NOW: At least a thousand students at Columbia University are currently encircling the entire interior of campus in attempt to protect the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment,’ which was ordered to disperse by 2 PM pic.twitter.com/egnkjnIFTX
— katie smith (@probablyreadit) April 29, 2024

Additionally, the Columbia University facility linked arms to form a human chain to block the front entrance into the "Gaza Solidarity Encampment."

NOW: Columbia University faculty link arms and form a wall in front of the entrance to the ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ as hundreds of students encircle the both lawns

Students remaining in the encampment were told they could face disciplinary action after 2PM pic.twitter.com/C1XRgHzs8b
— katie smith (@probablyreadit) April 29, 2024

After arrests took place in the previous weeks, university administrators said that they would not call the NYPD again in an email to students, saying that bringing back police “at this time” would be counterproductive. It is unknown if the changed circumstances, imposed deadline, and failed negotiations have changed the university's position on using law enforcement to clear the encampment.

Sources told the New York Post that the NYPD has mobilized busloads of officers who are standing by, but the university has not asked for a police response to clear the encampment. Officers have staged on Randall’s Island, just a few miles from Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, police sources said.

With the 2 p.m. deadline since passing, increased police presence on the campus has been reported.

It’s been an hour since the deadline. Nothing has really changed but there are even more NYPD gathering at the entrance. pic.twitter.com/g3ApfHApV4
— Jarrett Stepman (@JarrettStepman) April 29, 2024

It appears one arrest has been made and that a representative from Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul's office may have arrived on campus.

A representative for Governor Hochul just arrived on campus as hundreds of students form a picket line around the encampment pic.twitter.com/DhOKzHz47I
— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) April 29, 2024

Almost 2 hours past Columbia University’s deadline for student protestors to leave their encampment @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/8bRU3BUYsU
— Ali Bauman (@AliBaumanTV) April 29, 2024

The New York Post reports that the number of protestors marching around Columia's campus appears to be slowly shrinking, but two hours after the deadline has passed, the protests continue. It still remains unclear when the encampment will be cleared and if the NYPD will assist in removing the occupiers. The police cannot enter the campus, according to The Post's report, unless university administrators ask for their assistance.

Columbia President Says Talks With Demonstrators Have Failed — OK, Give Police the Go-Ahead to Do the Job