Live updates: NYPD says officer fired gun on Columbia campus; NYU, New School protests cleared
NEW YORK – A handful of students huddled outside the University Center on The New School's Manhattan campus on Friday morning, embracing one another and offering each other coffee after an early morning raid. Inside, the remnants of their encampment could be seen through the windows.
In addition to The New School, the New York Police Department responded to encampments on the campuses of New York University and The New School as school administrations and law enforcement across the country continued to grapple with large protests over Israel's war in Gaza.
The protests calling for a cease-fire and for universities to divest from Israel and Israeli companies have spread from coast to coast since police arrested over 100 students at an encampment outside Columbia University's main library on April 18. Since then, thousands of people have been arrested during protests on college campuses.
At The New School, 43 people were taken into custody, according to a spokesperson from the NYPD.
Adam Young, a freshman, got emotional as he recounted waking up surrounded by police officers Friday morning.
“I’m feeling distraught – as a student representative, I was crying the entire morning. I just stopped like 20 minutes ago,” he said. “I saw my friends walk out in handcuffs and (with) bruises. I’m 18 years old, I should not have to watch my friends do that.”
NYPD says sergeant accidentally fired gun during Columbia's Hamilton Hall raid
An NYPD sergeant accidentally discharged his firearm while trying to break into a locked empty office in Columbia University's Hamilton Hall "to make sure there was no one hiding inside" as police cleared out protesters who occupied the building Tuesday night, NYPD Assistant Chief Carlos Valdez said at a news conference on Friday.
Valdez said the weapon accidentally went off when the sergeant transferred it from his right to his left hand as he reached inside a broken window to unlock the office door. The bullet landed on the floor, and no one was injured.
"He was clearing the room," Valdez said. "We have to prepare for anything that may be in that room that could possibly be of harm to the officers or to civilians."
The sergeant, who has served on the force for eight years "with an impeccable record," will receive retraining and reevaluation, Valdez said.
Pressed about why NYPD did not release information on the incident at an earlier news conference, Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard said the department doesn't normally release information on accidental discharges. "I think we could have talked about it, but I don't recall it coming up organically," Sheppard said.
"I knew it would come up eventually because it always does, so it was no rush for us to talk about this," he added.
Sheppard said the NYPD also won't release body camera footage of the incident because police protocol does not require it in accidental discharge incidents.
NYPD officers tell NYU protesters to clear encampment
On Friday morning, the NYPD was called to NYU after the private university "requested our assistance to disperse the illegal encampment on their property," said Kaz Daughghtry, NYPD deputy commissioner on X, formerly Twitter.
The post included a video in which police walked through an outdoor encampment, telling the demonstrators in and outside of their tents "you have the opportunity to leave" and "grab your stuff and go."
It's unclear if any arrests have been made. Last week, more than 130 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested on campus at NYU, about half of whom were unaffiliated with the institution, according to a statement from university president Linda Mills.
More:President Biden breaks silence on campus unrest: 'Violent protest is not protected'
More than 70 arrested at SUNY Purchase protest encampment
More than 70 students and faculty members at SUNY Purchase were arrested on Thursday night at a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.
Officers detained the protesters when they refused to disperse after quiet hours began at 10 p.m., Betsy Aldredge, assistant director of public relations for the college, wrote in a statement released on Friday morning. The protest started around five hours earlier.
"Those who didn’t disperse after multiple warnings of consequences were arrested for trespass violations, most without incident," Aldredge said.
Westchester County Police and New York State Police joined campus police to disband the protest, according to Aldredge. Those arrested were taken to local police precincts because campus police had limited capacity to hold them.
Aldredge said student protesters would go through a student code of conduct process. "As the investigation continues, a few individuals may face additional charges," she added.
According to the WESPAC Foundation, a local organization that announced the encampment at the Purchase campus, organizers launched the protest "in response to the college administration’s refusal to listen to students’ concerns about the state school’s financial ties to and complicity in the Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide.”
SUNY Purchase is located in Harrison, New York, around 30 miles north of downtown New York City.
New York University protesters arrested in early morning raid
Outside New York University’s John A. Paulson Center, students scrambled Friday morning to fill trash bags with their supplies and bedding after being awoken by an early morning raid. Workers surrounded by NYPD officers cleared the remains of their encampment. The NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition said in a statement that 14 students were arrested during the early morning raid. A spokesperson for the NYPD said officers arrested 13 people at New York University but did not specify what charges they faced.Students planned to return to the area later Friday for a rally.“Arrest will not deter us from our steadfast solidarity with our Palestinian siblings,” the coalition said in a statement.
NYU students scramble to leave encampment ahead of raid
After spending the night at the encampment, Ryna Workman, a third-year law student at NYU, woke up early to go to the bathroom when security at the Paulson Center told her the building was on lockdown. Seconds later, she said, security pushed aside the barricades at the encampment to make room for the NYPD.Workman said she rushed to wake up students at the encampment and gather books and electronics before police began making arrests.“I was mostly worried because I didn’t know how many people were still asleep and which tents to check,” she said. “It was very scary.”Workman, who spoke to USA TODAY from 1 Police Plaza, said none of those taken into custody have been released, as of Friday morning.
Tensions rising at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Campus police at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology erected a green fence around a student encampment overnight and closed most campus buildings to those without IDs on Friday morning in anticipation of a midday rally.
Protesters not affiliated with MIT registered with the city of Cambridge to hold a rally in support of Israeli and Jewish students in front of the school's main entrance on Massachusetts Avenue, across the street from the encampment. Counter-protesters are also expected.
In an early morning letter to the MIT community, university President Sally Kornbluth said the school is "making every appropriate preparation for these rallies, with strong support from local police."
The letter reiterated concerns for the safety of students in the encampment and on campus which she also shared in a video released Saturday. "I ask that members of the community join us in doing everything possible to keep the peace," she said.
– Karen Weintraub
More:Amid arrests and chaos, Columbia's student radio station stayed on air. America listened.
Civil rights investigation opened into Columbia treatment of Palestinian students, lawyers say
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on Thursday opened an investigation into Columbia University for how it's treated Palestinian students and allies, lawyers said.
The civil rights complaint, filed on April 25, alleges unequal treatment by Columbia administrators, including President Minouche Shafik. Four students and the student organization, Students for Justice in Palestine, told federal officials they experienced harassment, death threats and doxing on campus since the start of the war, according to the complaint filed by Palestine Legal, a legal aid organization.
“For months, Columbia has not only failed to take action to protect Palestinian students and their allies speaking out for Palestinian freedom from racist harassment and discrimination, but actively engaged in differential treatment,” Radhika Sainath, a senior staff attorney for Palestine Legal, said in a statement. “This investigation could not have come at a better time, as we just saw Columbia escalate its crackdown against Palestinian students and their allies by bringing in the NYPD to brutally arrest student protesters for the second time in less than two weeks.”
USA TODAY obtained a copy of the Department of Education letter announcing the investigation. The Department of Education didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The university said it doesn’t comment on pending investigations.
During a news conference Wednesday night, Layla Saliba, a Columbia student in the complaint, described how the university disregarded her and other Palestinian Americans who have lost countless loved ones killed by Israeli forces. Saliba has lost 15 relatives, including a cousin killed last week. Other students have lost even more family members, she told hundreds gathered.
“We are all grieving and the university does not care,” she said. “They want to appease their donors and trustees so bad that they are willing to use systematic violence against us, and they think it's OK. This is not OK.”
Police arrest man who accelerated car toward protesters at Portland State University
Portland police arrested a man on Thursday who accelerated toward protesters at Portland State University and appeared to spray pepper spray at protesters as he fled, the Associated Press reported.
Video posted to social media showed protesters screaming as the car briefly sped towards the crowd. Protesters later smashed the windows of the white Toyota Camry and spray-painted it.
Officers located the man after the incident and took him to the hospital on a police mental health hold, according to the outlet. His name has not been released.
More than 30 people arrested at Portland State University
More than 30 people were arrested at Portland State University on Thursday after demonstrators twice occupied the school's main library.
Beginning around 6 a.m. on Thursday, officers began working to clear the library where protesters barricaded themselves, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Multiple demonstrators were arrested, including one person accused of blasting an officer with a fire extinguisher. Around 9:30 a.m. police reported that the building was cleared, adding that "a hostile crowd remained on scene."
Portland State University officials "secured the library with plywood and erected a fence" as Portland police officers left the scene. However, a short time later, "trespassers had torn down the fence and broken back into the library," police said. An additional eight people were arrested. Seven officers suffered injuries, the most serious being a knee injury that required ambulance transport to the hospital, police said.
The police have not said how many of those arrested were students, faculty, or staff at the university. In a statement, the Portland Police Bureau said it would soon release the identities of those arrested.
Earlier this week the school asked police to help remove dozens of protesters occupying the building. Last week the university paused seeking or accepting gifts or grants from Boeing pending a review of weapons sales to Israel.