Columbia University has suspended 65 students after the campus library was stormed by pro-Palestinian protesters.
More than 80 people are understood to have been involved in the incident on Wednesday, including at least 33 people who are not students at the university.
Masked protesters were seen in standing on tables, beating drums and unfurling banners reading “strike for Gaza” and “Liberated zone” in videos shared on social media.
One person was filmed being handcuffed by a campus public safety officer. New York police eventually arrived in riot gear to clear the demonstration.
A total of 80 protesters were arrested, authorities said, and those involved could be face up to three months in jail. Columbia alumni and students from other universities were among those detained.
Demonstrators wearing masks protest in the main library on the New York campus of Columbia University – Johanna HÃ
Two campus public safety officers were injured as the demonstrators forced their way into the Butler Library, where students were revising ahead of their final exams.
Protesters were demanding an amnesty for students facing disciplinary action after last summer’s protests.
They also demanded the release of activists facing deportation including Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, who was arrested and detained by ICE agents in March and flown to an immigration jail in Louisiana.
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, said those on student visas are facing deportation. Students involved in similar demonstrations have previously been suspended had their degrees revoked.
Mahmoud Khalil was detained by ICE in March
The university, one of the most prestigious in the US, called police after protesters refused to leave. The university took around five hours to call in the police report, according to Fox News.
In spite of the delay, the Trump administration praised the university’s acting president for meeting the moment “with fortitude and conviction”.
The demonstration came just days before final exams at the university – Derek French/UPI/Shutterstock
The move came in stark contrast to the university’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests in the summer, when a pro-Gaza encampment remained in place for more than six weeks.
Claire Shipman, Columbia’s acting president, said she called in the police because the protesters “posed a serious risk to our students and campus safety.”
Ms Shipman said she arrived at the library to see a public safety officer being wheeled out on a stretcher and another being bandaged up.
She said: “As I left hours later, I walked through the reading room, one of the many jewels of Butler Library, and I saw it defaced and damaged in disturbing ways and with disturbing slogans.
“Let me also make clear, our administration spent substantial time working to defuse the situation in multiple ways, through Public Safety and Delegate visits to the students, scenes I witnessed first-hand.
“The students were told they simply needed to identify themselves and then leave, but most refused.”
The 2024 encampment on the Columbia University campus – Stefan Jeremiah
Four student journalists who were reporting on the protest for campus media were initially suspended but the action was later lifted.
Ms Shipman took over the post after Minouche Shafik, the former president of Columbia University, was forced to quit amid criticism of her handling of the summer protests.
Columbia declined to comment on what form disciplinary action might take.
“Foreign university students in America have been put on notice: if you break the law or support terrorism in our country, we will revoke your visa. This administration will not tolerate non-citizens causing mayhem on our college campuses,” the state department said.
Columbia’s response to the latest protests comes against a backdrop of the Trump administration threatening to withhold £300 million ($400 million) in federal grants if it failed to tackle on-campus antisemitism.
The New York Police Department was contacted for comment.
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