Dozens of Protesters Arrested at Columbia University Over Pro-Palestinian Demonstration

On April 18, New York police intervened in a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University. According to several students involved, they had been protesting on campus since early Wednesday and some of them were subsequently suspended from both Columbia and Barnard College. The reason for the intervention was the setting up of tents by the protesters in the center of the university's campus. The number of arrests made during the intervention varied, with President Nemat Minouche Shafik of Columbia University stating that she authorized police to clear the tents and 108 arrests being reported by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The protests have led to rising tensions on campus, with hundreds of students having pitched tents and camping out in what they considered a designated "free speech zone."