Columbia University has warned students to brace for the return of tent encampments on campus after the Ivy League school became aware of anti-Israel protesters’ plans to stage demonstrations.
“We have been made aware of possible plans to establish encampments on Columbia’s campuses,” the school’s public safety unit blasted out in an email to students and staff on Wednesday.
“We want to clearly communicate that camping and encampments on Columbia’s campuses are prohibited by university policy.”
The school vowed to immediately tear down any tents that pop up on the Morningside Heights campus and threatened to have disruptive protesters arrested.
“We value free expression and the right to protest,” the email continued. “These activities must be conducted in accordance with university rules and policies to ensure the safety of our community and that academic and other campus activities can continue unimpeded.”
The alert came after roughly 100 people held a secret planning meeting in Brooklyn earlier this week about setting up the encampment on Thursday and Friday, NBC News reported.
“When we take over the lawn, our goal is to unify the space and make it our own,” one of the organizers said, according to a recording of the meeting.
The ringleaders, who refused to use their real names and wore face coverings, urged those who planned on attending the protest not to arrive on campus wearing masks because it would tip off campus security.
“Any action that we do will bring police, will bring repression and we thought about that deeply and we’re aware of that,” one of the organizers said.
“And we’re stuck in this situation where inaction is also violence.”
The planned protests come a year after anti-Israel agitators forced Columbia into lockdown when a similar tent encampment descended into chaos — resulting in dozens of arrests and destruction.
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