Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators flooded into the main library on Columbia University’s campus on Wednesday afternoon and occupied part of the building, in an attempt to rekindle the protest movement that swept campus last spring.
The protesters, wearing masks and kaffiyehs, hung banners in the soaring main room of Butler Library’s second floor, renaming the space “the Basel Al-Araj Popular University,” according to the demonstrators and witnesses at the library.
Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a protest movement on campus, said in a Substack post that it had occupied the building to “show that as long as Columbia funds and profits from imperialist violence, the people will continue to disrupt Columbia’s profits and legitimacy.”
The protest comes as the Trump administration has been cracking down on Columbia over what it calls its failure to protect Jewish students from harassment, cutting more than $400 million in federal research funding to the school. The university has been under enormous pressure to stem disruptive pro-Palestinian protests, particularly those that call for an end to the state of Israel.
It was not clear whether the protest would be a brief demonstration or a lengthy occupation of the library. The protests at Columbia last spring came to a head when students and others entered Hamilton Hall, a campus building, in late April, leading the school’s president at the time to call in the police about 24 hours into the occupation.
On Wednesday, the demonstrators pushed past a library security guard shortly after 3 p.m., carrying tote bags and backpacks, before heading up the stairs to the main reading room, video posted on social media showed. After chanting pro-Palestinian slogans for about an hour, some of the protesters attempted to leave but were prevented by a row of Columbia public safety officers.
A university spokeswoman said that the disruption was limited to a single reading room. Demonstrators were being asked for identification before they would be permitted to disperse, a statement from Columbia said. The statement added that the protesters would face consequences.
“It is completely unacceptable that some individuals are choosing to disrupt academic activities as our students are studying and preparing for final exams,” the statement said.
Public security officers evacuated students from the library, which was filled with people studying. A Police Department spokesman said that about 60 people were involved in the protest as of 4 p.m.
Anvee Bhutani contributed reporting.
Sharon Otterman is a Times reporter covering higher education, public health and other issues facing New York City.
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