NYPD makes arrests at Columbia as protest encampment is removed

Officers with the New York Police Department (NYPD) were clad in riot gear Thursday during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Columbia University, where protesters set up an encampment of dozens of tents on campus.

Photos circulating on social media and various media outlets showed dozens of police officers in body armor and face shields lined up around Columbia University Thursday afternoon. Officers arrested dozens of demonstrators Thursday, The New York Times reported. NYPD declined to provide any details on the arrests as the situation is ongoing.

Demonstrators set up an encampment of tents that went up Wednesday morning, prompting Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to authorize the NYPD to help remove the encampment “out of an abundance of caution.”

“I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University,” Shafik wrote in a letter to the NYPD Thursday.