NYPD enter Columbia University, arrest pro-Palestinian protesters

New York City police officers entered the grounds of Columbia University on Tuesday night to arrest and disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who took over a campus building nearly 24 hours earlier and have occupied a tent camp at the Ivy League school for nearly two weeks. Live television images showed helmeted police in tactical gear entering the elite campus in upper Manhattan, which has been the focal point of student protests that have spread to dozens of schools across the U.S. in recent days expressing opposition to Israel's war in Gaza. At post-secondary institutions across the U.S., student demands include that their school severs any business or academic links to Israel. "We’re clearing it out," police officers yelled as they marched up to the barricaded entrance of Hamilton Hall, an academic building that protesters had broken into and seized control of in the early morning hours of Tuesday. A long line of police officers were seen climbing into the building through a second-storey window, using a vehicle with a ladder to gain access to the upper floor. Dozens of other officers swarmed over the nearby protest encampment, as onlooking students standing just outside the campus jeered them with shouts of "Shame, shame!" Before long, officers were seen leading handcuffed protesters to police vehicles outside campus gates. For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/10460797/columbia-university-palestinian-protests-building/ Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB #GlobalNews #NYPD #Columbia