A pro-Palestinian protestor is arrested outside Columbia University in Manhattan April 22, 2024. Protestors gathered on the streets near the campus after school officials closed the campus and made all classes remote. This came after hundreds of pro-Palestinian protestors took over large parts of the campus last week. © Seth Harrison/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK
Syndication: Westchester County Journal News
(New York, NY) — The NYPD says the pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the city have been attracting professional protestors who want to cause chaos in New York City. They say those “outside agitators” have tried to hijack the protests at Columbia University and NYU. Officers on the streets say they recognize the protesters who have tried to start violence at political gatherings and want to fight police. They say those professional protesters could care less about the message of the demonstrations, and are there to divide people and cause harm. The NYPD has asked Columbia University to enter the campus to remove those individuals.
Columbia University continues to negotiate with the pro-Palestinian students who took over the campus green with a tent city more than a week ago. The students say they wont leave until the school promises to divest from interests in Israel and reinstates student demonstrators who were suspended. They have agreed to kick out protesters who are not students at Columbia. Right outside the Morningside Heights campus there continues to be dueling protests. The NYPD says they are mostly peaceful, but a few demonstrators have been arrested.
Pro-Palestinian protesters also set up tent cities at the City College in Hamilton Heights on Thursday and in the lobby of FIT. At FIT, the demonstrators fought with security guards who tried to keep them out, but were overwhelmed by the number of people pushing through the entrances. It’s not clear how FIT will respond to the protesters.
