Columbia starts suspending students after Gaza protesters defy deadline to clear encampment: Live

From New York to California, students protesting the Israel-Hamas war slept in tents at college campuses, as some universities moved to shut down encampments and arrested dozens of demonstrators after reports of antisemitic activity.

With the death toll mounting in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say enable the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

At Columbia University in New York City, where early protests sparked pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country, students and administrators have engaged in negotiations, the university said in a statement Saturday night.

Officials at Columbia University said it has begun suspending students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza who have remained on campus after a 2pm deadline to disperse.

Hundreds of protesters including students and faculty remained on campus after the 2pm deadline passed.

Shortly before the 2pm deadline, Columbia University faculty supporting the Gaza protests on campus linked arms in orange his-vis vests to protect students from being forcibly removed from the campus.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to answer when pressed on whether or not the Biden administration believes Gaza protesters should face punishment and criminal charges.

“These are institutions – some of them are private, some of them are public – and it is up to their leadership, university leadership and colleges, to make that decision,” she said during a Monday press briefing at the White House.

More than 90 people, including students, were arrested at a protest encampment at Virginia Tech overnight, according to a statement from the school.

“91 individuals, 54 of whom are current Virginia Tech students, were arrested and all were charged with trespassing,” the the statement said.

The arrests began around 10:20pm, five minutes after police warned protesters they would be considered trespassers if they did not disperse.

Colleges around the country implored pro-Palestinian student protesters to clear out tent encampments with rising levels of urgency Monday as classes wrap up for the semester and campuses prepare for graduation ceremonies.

Students and others have been sparing over the Israel-Hamas war and its mounting death toll. Many students are demanding their universities cut financial ties with Israel.

Protests were still active at a number of campuses. Near George Washington University, protesters at an encampment breached and dismantled the barriers Monday morning used to secure University Yard, the university said in a statement. The yard had been closed since last week.

Columbia University anthropology professor Mahmood Mamdani said school’s administration turned the site of an ongoing Gaza protest into “a crime scene”.

Some members of the university’s faculty joined with student protesters ahead of a 2pm deadline the school gave demonstrators to disperse or face suspension.

“Nobody thinks they should be suspended. Look at the thousands that have turned up here,” Mr Mamdani told CNN.

He said that professors”teach our students not to accept things at face value” and to “ask questions, no matter the consequences”.

“The idea of penalizing students for protests? The administration has turned the site of a protest into a crime scene,” he said. “If I were the administration, I would have promoted discussion, not muzzled discussion.”