NYC mayor and NYPD blame ‘radicalization’ by ‘outsider agitators’ for chaos at Columbia: Live updates

New York Mayor Eric Adams and police officials blamed “outside agitators” for inciting chaos and violence at Columbia University pro-Palestine protests.

However, they provided scant evidence for the claims on Wednesday, even denying requests to list the number of “outside agitators” arrested on Tuesday evening after police entered Columbia’s campus to clear protesters occupying Hamilton Hall.

Police officials, both on Tuesday evening and Wednesday, referred to a bike chain used in the building as evidence of “outside agitators.”

The Late Show host, 59, spoke in solidarity with the protesters – who have gathered to urge their institutions to vocally condemn the war in Gaza.

Colbert’s chat show aired as riot police were deployed at Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall. Dozens of pro-Palestinian student protesters were arrested after they occupied the building.

Columbia officials said on Tuesday evening that they were “left with no choice” but to involve the police after they said non-students were involved in the hall’s occupation.

The New York Police Department arrested 282 pro-Palestinian protesters on Tuesday night, officials told reporters Wednesday.

173 people were arrested at The City College of New York, while 109 were arrested at Columbia University.

Between 40 and 50 of those arrested were at Hamilton Hall, Tarik Sheppard, NYPD deputy commissioner for public information, told NBC News on Tuesday evening.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is set to provide an update momentarily on the police activity on Columbia University’s campus Tuesday evening.

Continue following The Independent’s live coverage for updates.

Hundreds of people have reportedly been arrested this week in connection with the pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University, where hundreds of police officers moved in to clear Hamilton Hall last night.

The NYPD’s deputy commissioner for public information, Tarik Sheppard, told NBC News that 230 people had been arrested at Columbia.

Between 40 and 50 of those arrested were at Hamilton Hall, while the rest were arrested at the City College of New York, Mr Sheppard was quoted as saying.

In a night of sweeping police crackdowns on pro-Palestine protests at various campuses across America, SWAT forces were also deployed to a demonstration at the University of Arizona.

University police declared the gathering an “unlawful assembly”, before using tear gas and tearing down the encampment, the Daily Wildcat student newspaper reported.

Conflict also broke out between protestors and counter-protestors throughout the night, with some counter-protesters tearing down parts of the encampment, the outlet reported.

Palestinian graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, one of the protesters’ lead negotiators said that the actions of Columbia University in bringing in NYPD to arrest demonstrators were “disgraceful and shameful”.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday night following the police campus crackdown, Mr Khalil said the institution had failed to acknowledge the protests as a “movement” and had treated it as an “internal university matter”.

“Today is yet another disgraceful and shameful day for the Columbia adminsitration… the university thinks this will disuade students from protesting,” he said.

“Since we started out negotiations last Friday, the university did not treat this as an actual movement, they treated it as an internal university matter. They refused to acknowldge that this was more than that, that this is antionawide movement.

“So I am feeling disgraced by this institution.”

On the demonstrator takeover of Hamilton Hall, which was cleared by police by around 11pm local time on Tuesday night, Mr Khalil continued: “The autonomous group decided to take this building when they felt the university was not answering their demands… they had to do something so the university can actually take their demands seriously.

“Last week when they established a very peaceful encampment and the university did not wait a minute to bring in the NYPD… here we are again bringing in more force.”

Asked if he expected protests to continue, he added “I expect that, [though] I don’t know how the presence of the police will change this… I’m very confident that students will continue this movement even after all this brutality against them.”

A counter-protester at UCLA was heard shouting for a “second Nakba”, LA Times reporter Teresa Watanabe reports – in a reference to the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 war, known as the Nakba, which means “catastrophe”.

In another clip, a counter-protester can be heard shouting “you stand no chance, old lady” at a woman trying to cling to a part of the barricade protecting pro-Palestine demonstrators.

SWAT officers have been deployed to the pro-Palestine protest at Tulane University in New Orleans, NBC affiliate WDSU reported.

In a statement, the university said: “Early this morning, after issuing numerous warnings, Tulane University Police Department led a coordinated effort by the New Orleans Police Department and Louisiana State Police to remove protestors who have trespassed on our campus over the last two days and erected an illegal encampment on the edge of the lawn in front of Gibson Hall along St. Charles Avenue. The overwhelming majority of the protestors are unaffiliated with our community.

At this point, police have reported that at least 14 protestors have been arrested, including two Tulane students. These arrests are in addition to the six individuals, including one student, who were arrested on Monday. Monday’s offenses include trespassing, resisting arrest and battery on an officer.

Students who participated in this unlawful occupation have also been referred to the Office of Student Conduct for immediate disciplinary action. Seven students have been suspended. We are also actively looking into reports of university employees participating in this unlawful demonstration.