Columbia Protesters Take Over Academic Building After Defying Deadline

Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University have occupied an academic building as part of their protest over the war in Gaza.

Dozens of activists seized Hamilton Hall early on Tuesday and barricaded themselves inside.

The university and police are yet to comment.

Columbia earlier began suspending students involved in a two-week encampment who defied a deadline to disperse.

Students were warned they would face disciplinary action if they failed to move by 14:00 EST (18:00 GMT) on Monday.

But as the deadline passed, dozens of students rallied at the site.

Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), one of the main protest groups, vowed to defy the order in a post on X, and called on activists to “protect the encampment”.

The group later said it had taken over Hamilton Hall, highlighting that the venue was also the focus of student protests in 1968.

Images from the site on Tuesday show the building with broken windows. Protesters blocked doors with wooden tables and chairs, the Columbia Spectator reported.

Another group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), said it had “reclaimed” the building in honour of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl found dead in Gaza earlier this year.

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