Dozens of propalist protesters arrested at Columbia University

New York police have arrested dozens of propalist protesters after taking part of the main library at Columbia University on Wednesday.

Two university security staff were injured when protesters forced their path to the Butler library on Wednesday, according to a statement by the university president, who called the actions of activists “outrageous”.

A video posted on social media has shown that chanting protesters entering the library, many of them wear headscarves and masks of Keffiyeh, abandoning a ban on the Trump administration imposed after widespread campus demonstrations last year.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the status of participants visa will be reviewed.

More than 70 protesters have been reported to have been arrested. No one has yet been accused and the authorities have not given details of who is held and whether they are in the US on visas.

In a social media publication, protesters accused the university of violent repression and said they refused to show their personal documents to the police and public safety staff on the campus.

Rubio described the group as “offenders and vandals”. He added that “pro-Ham’s thugs are no longer welcome to our great nation,” sounding Trump’s excuse for his recent repression of protests on the propalist campus.

In addition to targeting prominent personalities – by canceling hundreds of international student visas and threatening deportations – Trump’s team also focused directly on the highest US universities, such as Colombia, which accuses it failed to fight anti -Semitism in the campus.

Videos of the most recent actions at the prestigious New York institution showed protesters vandalizing book shelves by writing “Free Palestine”.

Another clip showed that public safety staff were blocking the door library output and asked the interior to show their Colombia identification numbers or face arrest, which led to long -term opposition.

Claire Shipman, President of Colombia, said she had asked the New York Police Department (NYPD) to assist Wednesday, adding that many of the protesters involved in the latter actions were not students.

“At the direct request of Colombian University, NYPD responds to a constant campus situation where people have occupied a library and violate,” the police said in a publication at X.

G -Shipman said that while the protest is isolated in a room in the library, “it is completely unacceptable that some people choose to violate academic activities as our students study and prepare for final exams.”

The President of Colombia, who took on the role in March after her predecessor resigned, asked students to stay away from the library.

“We will not tolerate hatred or violence in any form in our city,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said in an X.

He noted the first time the University of Columbia called on NYPD to protest on the campus since April 2024, when protesters occupied Hamilton Hall for nearly 24 hours.

Colombia has drawn a specific rage from Trump, who claims that many universities have tolerated anti -Semitism and harassment of Jewish students.

The president has already threatened to refuse about $ 400 million (£ 309 million) in federal funding for Colombia, as his administration continues to threaten the deportment of the campus.

In March, Colombia agreed with several requests from the Trump administration, including a ban on masks of persons in protests and a change in the supervision of some academic programs after the administration said it plans to refuse millions in federal funds.

It is unclear whether the funds will be restored, although the case was filed by some of the teachers because of the cuts.

Colombia was the epicenter of last year’s protests against the Gaza war and US support for Israel. But this is not the only institution that the US government is directed.

The administration has warned 60 universities that funding can be canceled if allegations of anti -Semitism in campuses are not addressed.

On Tuesday, Trump also discontinued $ 2.2 billion in taxpayers at Harvard University after ordering a review of his federal funding. The university refused to lean to Trump’s requests.