Unrest continued Monday at Columbia University and NYU as pro-Palestine protesters occupied the campus property in acts of civil disobedience.
While the Columbia occupation on campus saw relative calm Monday, things took a chaotic turn at NYU Monday night when the NYPD, at the administration’s request, moved onto Gould Plaza to remove protesters from the property — leading to clashes between demonstrators and cops.
The pro-Palestine protesters at NYU set up the encampment at Gould Plaza in solidarity with the ongoing Columbia University movement. Earlier in the day, according to an NYU statement, the administration had warned the protesters that they could not allow additional protesters into the occupation, but apparently that warning was ignored.
“The one safety requirement we made was that no additional protestors could enter Gould Plaza,” NYU said in a statement posted on their X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday. “With the breach of the barricades early this afternoon, that requirement was violated, and we witnessed disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community. We cannot tolerate people getting hurt.”
NYU gave the demonstrators until 4 p.m. Monday to clear out. Four and a half hours later, with the demonstrators steadfast and the ultimatum ignored, police moved into Gould Plaza upon the occupiers, who clung armed to arm and refused to move.
The scene seemed almost identical to what played out on the lawn of Columbia University on April 18, when police (at Columbia’s request) arrested encampment dwellers on the South Lawn. But on Monday at NYU, things took a violent turn.
Police brass say cops were pelted bottles, which apparently led to several clashes, including officers deploying mace and striking demonstrators. While NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry commended the NYPD, others denounced the actions of being unnecessarily violent.
The Gould Plaza camp was finally cleared after an hours long police action that led to more than 130 arrests. Daughtry said police were requested by school administrators in a letter that apparently asked them to intervene.
“Following negotiations this morning, additional protestors breached our barriers in violation of our clear instructions, and we witnessed disorderly, disruptive and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community,” part of the letter addressed to Deputy Commission of Legal Matters Michael Gerber read. “At this point we consider all protesters occupying Gould Plaza to be trespassers and we would like the NYPD to clear the area and to take action to remove the protestors.”
Meanwhile, in a statement released by the American Association of University Professors, staff dispute the claims that the NYU protesters intimidated or antagonized police. They argued, instead, that the NYPD handled the incident with a heavy-handed response.
“Much of their account is false. There was no breach in the barriers by non-NYU ID-holding peoples; there was no intimidation or antisemitism express from the Plaza or the assembled NYU identified protesters on the sidewalk closest to the barriers; there was no intimidation other than by NYPD to those on the sidewalk and implicitly on the Plaza (until they moved in, and then the intimidation was extremely violent),” part of the statement read.
The NYU Palestine Solidarity Coalition, in an email Tuesday, claimed that the administration’s statements about the events leading up to the encampment clearing were false. They contend that “the only formal communication received during the encampment was delivered to students’ inboxes around 10:40 p.m.,” about 2 hours after police moved in.
“NYU is trying to pit students against each other with invented claims of ‘antisemitic incidents’ and ‘safety issues,'” the email noted. “We will not back down and we will stand united. We will fight to keep each other safe from the NYPD, NYU administration, anti-Palestinian racism, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and antisemitism.”
Most of those arrested were expected to be slapped with summons for various violations.
Read more: ADL Report Shows Rise in NY Antisemitism for 2023
