NYPD breach occupied Columbia University building and arrest around 100 Hamas-endorsed students

Pro-Hamas students at Columbia University received a well-earned civics lesson Tuesday evening from New York City's finest.

Hamas-endorsed radicals illegally camped outside Columbia University for more than a week, regurgitating genocidal rhetoric and demanding the institution divest from Israel. The administration set multiple deadlines that went unheeded, then finally gave the radicals an ultimatum Monday: Leave the encampment by 2 p.m. or face suspension. This ultimatum also fell on deaf ears.

The radicals opted instead to seize the university's Hamilton Hall just as their leftist forebears had 58 years earlier in protest of America's military action against mass-murdering communists in southeast Asia.

Minouche Shafik, the president of the university, noted in a Wednesday letter to the New York Police Department that the illegal occupation was made possible by an individual who "hid in the building until after it closed and let the other individuals in."

The keffiyeh-adorned radicals reportedly ransacked the interior — busting doors and windows, destroying furniture and blockading entrances — while representatives of the anti-Israel radicals issued demands outside, suggesting that keeping the hall's illegal occupiers' stomachs from grumbling was the university's responsibility and amounted to "basic humanitarian aid."

Shafik ultimately pleaded for the NYPD to intervene, stressing that the "takeover of Hamilton Hall and the continued encampments raise serious safety concerns for the individuals involved and the entire community." Shafik also suggested that "the actions of these individuals are unfortunately escalating."

Around 6 p.m., Mayor Eric Adams implored the radicals to "leave the area and to leave the area now." Adams suggested further that "professional outside agitators" had a hand in the illegal takeover.

The terrorist-supported radicals ignored the mayor's request just as they had ignored the university's earlier requests.

Tuesday, on the eve of leftists' beloved May Day, the NYPD obliged the university president to the chagrin of Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.).

As police made their way to Hamilton Hall en masse, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine — among the student groups referred to as "ours" by the Gaza-based terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — called for escalations, writing, "ALL OUT TO COLUMBIA! DEFEND THE ENCAMPMENTS! FROM THE WALLS TO THE GATES, IT IS TIME TO ESCALATE! #Escalate4Gaza."

While the radicals prepared for the confrontation, Columbia faculty members preemptively denounced the police.

A statement attributed to the Columbia University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, shared online by leftist professor Joseph Howley, said, "NYPD presence in our neighborhood endangers our entire community. Armed police entering our campus places students and everyone else on campus at risk."

The university indicated in a statement obtained by WABC-TV that the NYPD arrived on campus around 9 p.m., which was crowded with leftists chanting anti-police and anti-Israel slogans.

Police were initially unable to enter the building on account of the barricades. The New York Post reported that several leftists stood on the inside of the doorway taunting officers while fellow travelers outside chanted, "Pigs!"

Around 9:30 p.m., police drove their Mobile Adjustable Ramp System vehicle up to the building, affording a column of around 30 armored riot officers equipped with zip-tie handcuffs a second-story window into the building. Police successfully climbed into the building, then made quick work out of the radicals inside with the aid of four distraction devices, which apparently went off with a bang.

According to the New York Times, at least 108 student radicals were arrested.

In addition to dragging out the radicals who seized and vandalized Hamilton Hall, police also dealt with the anti-Israel encampment on the university's West Lawn, reported the Times.

Officers searched the hundreds of tents and flushed out the remaining radicals.

Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves indicated that the "people that were in the encampment are now gone," reported the Post.

Protesters cheered on the blubbering arrestees as they were bused off campus.

Police reportedly indicated ahead of taking action Tuesday that the Hamilton Hall occupiers would be charged with third-degree burglary, trespassing, and criminal mischief. Those illegally camped outside would be slapped with trespassing and disorderly conduct charges.

Following the successful counter-extremism operation, Shafik said in a statement, "We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation."

The university has requested that NYPD maintain a presence on campus until May 17 to "maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished."

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