Police on Wednesday night removed a group of protesters occupying the main library at New York's Columbia University, long a flashpoint in the pro-Palestinian movement in the US. The New York Times reports that the protesters, who were masked and wearing kaffiyehs, appeared to be trying to rekindle last spring's campus demonstrations. They hung Palestinian flags and banners renaming the Butler library to "the Basel Al-Araj Popular University," and some apparently wrote "Columbia will burn" on framed pictures, the AP reports. The university's acting president requested police come in to clear the building after warning protesters they would face discipline and possibly arrest if they did not disperse, the Guardian reports.
Dozens were ultimately arrested, hours after protesters first pushed past campus security to get in. Videos show another group of protesters attempting to shove security officers aside to get in. Videos from later in the day show more than 30 people being led away from the building, their hands tied behind their backs, by police, as others gathered outside the building chanting "Free Palestine." Two public safety officers at the university were injured in the fracas, the acting president says. Also Wednesday night, the Justice Department said hate crime charges have been brought against Tarek Bazrouk, a 20-year-old who is accused of assaulting Jewish people at pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the past year, including one near Columbia. (More Columbia University stories.)
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