‘Stay down!' Dramatic bodycam video shows saw-wielding NYPD breach Columbia University
The NYPD did not release bodycam footage of the Emergency Services Unit's breach through a second-floor window; this shows them gaining access through the front door
New NYPD bodycam video showed officers cut through barricades at Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus, as well as what happened once they got inside, confronting dozens of protesters who had broken into the building. There were also new details on who was arrested, with 40% of protesters taken in at City College and Columbia having no affiliation with either school, a source said. NBC New York Andrew Siff reports.
What to Know
Police have swept through campuses across the U.S. over the last two weeks in response to protests calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza.
There have been confrontations and well more than 1,000 arrests; at Columbia, 109 people were arrested Tuesday night as NYPD officers in riot gear stormed the occupied Hamilton Hall. The NYPD just released body camera footage of officers making entry through the front door
The NYPD did not release bodycam footage of the Emergency Services Unit's breach through a second-floor window; the dramatic entry was captured live on TV as it happened
The 7-minute clip begins with NYPD officers approaching the steps of the hall, their shadows growing larger on the pavement as a group of protesters, their arms linked behind a Palestinian flag, sing, "We shall not be moved."
Loud bangs and crashes are heard as officers with riot shields attempt to gain entry through the chained-shut front door, moving metal barricades and other debris out of their way. At one point, an officer yells, "Zip ties! Team 2, breachers!", and a small scuffle ensues as the NYPD works to clear the linked group from the front steps.
Officers are seen using a torch to cut through the chain on the door. They bust that, but they still can't open the door because of a heavy barricade against it from the inside. Cops try ramming it. They can't get in. Then they get a saw.
Once inside the front vestibule, though, officers encounter another chained-shut door and another heavy barricade. Again, the saw and torch come out. Once the doors open, protesters are heard chanting behind a mountain of chairs on a table, protected by a chained metal fence. The NYPD cuts down that lock, too.
"Flash bang, over! Let's deploy a flash bang," an officer shouts as protesters yell. Several loud blasts are then heard as the flash bangs, or distraction devices, are deployed. They are used to disorient protesters as police move in.
Finally, the last barricade clatters to the ground and the officers gain entry. They encounter sign-wielding protesters in head scarves. There's some shoving, but more whistle-blowing, as officers order the protesters to "stay down." A line of protesters are seen cross-legged against the wall, hands either over their heads or linked to the person next to them.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 29: Demonstrators from the pro-Palestine encampment on Columbia’s Campus show a banner as they barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, they barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building which has been occupied in past student movements,, and name it after a Palestinian child allegedly killed by the Israeli military on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched around the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University as a 2 P.M. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university passed. The students were given a suspension warning if they do not meet the deadline. Columbia students were the first to erect an encampment in support of Palestine, with students demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, where more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Student protesters camp near the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. All classes at Columbia University have been held virtually today after school President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning in response to recent campus unrest. (Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 29: Demonstrators from the pro-Palestine encampment on Columbia’s Campus barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building which has been occupied in past student movements, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched around the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University as a 2 P.M. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university passed. The students were given a suspension warning if they do not meet the deadline. Columbia students were the first to erect an encampment in support of Palestine, with students demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, where more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: A student protester pulls up a crate filled with foot and supplies from a balcony of Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. All classes at Columbia University have been held virtually today after school President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning in response to recent campus unrest. (Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Benches and trash bins block the entrance to Hamilton Hall where some student protesters camped on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. All classes at Columbia University have been held virtually today after school President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning in response to recent campus unrest. (Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Demonstrators supporting Palestinians in Gaza barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building which has been occupied in past student movements, on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched as a 2 p.m. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university came and went. The students were given a suspension warning if they did not meet the deadline. Students at Columbia were the first from an elite college to erect an encampment, demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, in which more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: A student protester parades a Palestinian flag outside the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. All classes at Columbia University have been held virtually today after school President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning in response to recent campus unrest. (Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 29: A demonstrator breaks the windows of the front door of the building in order to secure a chain around it to prevent authorities from entering on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York City. Demonstrators from the pro-Palestine encampment on Columbia’s Campus barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building which has been occupied in past student movements,. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched around the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University as a 2 P.M. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university passed. The students were given a suspension warning if they do not meet the deadline. Columbia students were the first to erect an encampment in support of Palestine, with students demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, where more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: A Student protestor drops trash in a bin where benches and trash bins block the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. All classes at Columbia University have been held virtually today after school President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning in response to recent campus unrest. (Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Student protesters camp near the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. All classes at Columbia University have been held virtually today after school President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning in response to recent campus unrest. (Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Demonstrators supporting Palestinians in Gaza barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building which has been occupied in past student movements, on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched as a 2 p.m. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university came and went. The students were given a suspension warning if they did not meet the deadline. Students at Columbia were the first from an elite college to erect an encampment, demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, in which more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Demonstrators supporting Palestinians in Gaza barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, an academic building which has been occupied in past student movements, on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched as a 2 p.m. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university came and went. The students were given a suspension warning if they did not meet the deadline. Students at Columbia were the first from an elite college to erect an encampment, demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, in which more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: A student protester pulls up a crate filled with foot and supplies from a balcony of Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. All classes at Columbia University have been held virtually today after school President Minouche Shafik announced a shift to online learning in response to recent campus unrest. (Photo by Mary Altaffer-Pool/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 29: A lone police officer reacts as multiple demonstrators enter into Hamilton Hall where they proceeded to barricade themselves in the academic building which has been occupied in past student movements, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched around the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University as a 2 P.M. deadline to clear the encampment given to students by the university passed. The students were given a suspension warning if they do not meet the deadline. Columbia students were the first to erect an encampment in support of Palestine, with students demanding that the school divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, where more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Hamilton Hall is seen as people wait in line to enter Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Columbia University has restricted access to the school’s campus to students residing in residential buildings on campus and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings after protestors took over Hamilton Hall overnight renaming it as “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab. The students have barricaded themselves in the building and have also erected another encampment on Lewisohn Lawn, outside Lewisohn Hall. The protesters have said they are planning to remain at the hall until the university concedes to CU Apartheid Divest’s three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: Pro-Palestinian protestors occupy space at an entrance to Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Columbia University has restricted access to the school’s campus to students residing in residential buildings on campus and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings after protestors took over Hamilton Hall overnight renaming it as “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab. The students have barricaded themselves in the building and have also erected another encampment on Lewisohn Lawn, outside Lewisohn Hall. The protesters have said they are planning to remain at the hall until the university concedes to CU Apartheid Divest’s three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 30: A Columbia student looks at damage to windows of a door at Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Columbia University has restricted access to the school’s campus to students residing in residential buildings on campus and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings after protestors took over Hamilton Hall overnight renaming it as “Hind’s Hall” in honor of Hind Rajab. The students have barricaded themselves in the building and have also erected another encampment on Lewisohn Lawn, outside Lewisohn Hall. The protesters have said they are planning to remain at the hall until the university concedes to CU Apartheid Divest’s three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The NYPD did not release body camera video of the operation that sent officers up a ladder truck and through a second-floor window, which is how they initially gained access to the building. Video shot by news cameras, though, shows the massive truck roll up to the window with dozens of officers in a single file line. They go in, one by one.
Authorities have said three minor injuries were reported amid the fray. It wasn't clear to whom those injuries happened, nor how they happened -- whether in a stampede or confrontation with police or by some other means. A total of 109 people were arrested, including 40 to 50 people who had been in the hall. Those in the hall are charged with burglary, trespassing and criminal mischief. The Manhattan district attorney's office says it is reviewing the charges.
The NYPD has said Hamilton Hall is now a crime scene.
Chopper 4 has a view of Columbia University's lawn the day after a protest encampment was cleared by police.
A day ago, a crowd gathered in Chinatown near the intersection of Mott Street and Worth Street to greet the protesters who had been processed and released from the nearby courthouse and NYPD headquarters. Some of those charged spoke to the media after their release.
"I was playing the drum on the sidewalk and police started fast approaching," said Fernando Bobis, an arrested protester. "I was jumped on by two officers. My hands were forced behind me and zip-tied viciously tight."
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban spoke about the police department's actions at Columbia University and City College overnight to remove protesters and break up encampments.
Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban say police demonstrated remarkable restraint, and commended them for their efforts. University President Minouche Shafik has said she was left with no choice but to call in the NYPD again, following what bodycam video shows was a destructive overtaking of Hamilton Hall.
Shafik has faced mounting calls to resign over her handling of the protests. The Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors called for a vote of no confidence in the administration Thursday.
Anti-war protests escalate in NYC, elsewhere
At the same time they breached Hamilton Hall, officers were involved with the dismantling of a protest at City College in Manhattan. Nearly 200 people were arrested there. Another dozen-plus were taken into custody during a protest at the Fordham-Lincoln Center campus Wednesday night -- and nearly 30 were cuffed overnight at Stony Brook University.
Police have swept through campuses across the U.S. over the last two weeks in response to protests calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza. There have been confrontations and more than 1,000 arrests. In rarer instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.
Even as protests in New York City de-escalate, demonstrations at campuses in other states are ramping up in intensity.
President Joe Biden addressed the national protests Thursday, affirming the right to free speech with a caveat: "but it doesn't mean everything goes." He condemned the ones that have turned violent and said the demonstrations have not made him consider a change to his administration's Mideast policies.
President Joe Biden said Thursday peaceful protests are “the best tradition of how Americans respond to controversial issues” but stressed that the United States is not a lawless country.
The campus protests began at Columbia in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.
As cease-fire negotiations appeared to gain steam, it wasn’t clear whether those talks would lead to an easing of protests.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
