Columbia University protesters risk expulsion for unauthorized building occupation

Students occupying Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall will face expulsion after breaking in and vandalizing the private school property overnight.

University spokesman Ben Chang announced Tuesday afternoon that students continuing to violate university policy “will be met with clear consequences.” He listed vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blocking entrances as examples of violating conduct.

“We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions,” the statement reads. “Our top priority is restoring safety and order on our campus.”

Chang also noted that students part of the encampment are being suspended if they do not “commit to the terms we offered.” The suspended students will be “restricted from all academic and recreational spaces … seniors will be ineligible to graduate.”

After seizing Hamilton Hall and barricading themselves inside in the early hours of Tuesday morning, anti-Israel agitators draped a banner over the building that read “intifada.”

The word “intifada” relates to armed “uprisings” against Israel that killed civilians and soldiers alike. Hamas was founded during the first intifada in 1987.

According to the Columbia University student newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator, NYPD officers arrived outside campus at around 12:45 a.m. but said they would only enter if they “hear that someone’s gotten hurt.”

The student paper also reported that a facilities worker claimed “they held me hostage” after being let out of the building by the anti-Israel demonstrators.

Columbia University’s public safety department declined the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.

Anti-Israel students at the University of New Mexico marched into a student union building, set up camp, and vandalized school property as part of a multiday protest before police cleared the building early Tuesday morning.

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People at colleges and universities around the country have reported antisemitic conduct following Columbia President Minouche Shafik’s April 17 House testimony, including Jewish students being physically blocked from attending class, a Jewish counterprotester being attacked by someone with a Taser, and another being jabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Columbia University’s Office of Public Affairs for comment.