“I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University,” Shafik said in a letter to the NYPD.

The president said protestors were trespassing, refused to disperse and damaged campus property. NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban noted that the students were arrested peacefully “and saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner.”

Hirsi said she was an organizer with Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the student group that has been advocating for Columbia to cut ties with companies that support Israel.

pro-Palestinian protest

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