NYPD: 78 arrested at last night’s Columbia anti-Israel protest

The New York Police Department says 78 individuals were arrested at last night’s Columbia University protest.

An NYPD spokesperson says two were issued summonses to appear in court, but there is no information yet on the charges.

In a raucous protest, anti-Israel demonstrators took over a library reading room right before final exams, chanting for an “intifada” and vandalizing the building.

The university called in the police after the protesters refused to identify themselves and leave, and other activists attempted to force their way into the building, past campus safety officers.

NOW: Massive Police line outside of Columbia University makes arrests as they clear the street for NYPD busses removing arrested protesters from Butler library. pic.twitter.com/SIDmmfPPGy

— Oliya Scootercaster ???? (@ScooterCasterNY) May 8, 2025

Acting Columbia President Claire Shipman releases a video statement on the protest, saying she saw the library room “defaced and damaged in disturbing ways and with disturbing slogans.”

“Violence and vandalism, hijacking a library — none of that has any place on our campus,” Shipman says. “Let me be clear: Columbia unequivocally rejects antisemitism and all other forms of harassment and discrimination.”

Shipman says 900 students were forced out of the library during the protests.

She adds that two campus safety officers were wounded. One was wheeled out on a gurney and another required bandages.

Jewish students and faculty applaud the university’s response to the protest, in stark contrast from last year, when the administration was widely criticized for its handling of demonstrations.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, “We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library.”

“Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation,” Rubio says on X.