Prosecutors drop most charges against protesters who occupied Columbia University building

New York City police officers take people into custody near the Columbia University campus in New York, April 30, 2024, after a building taken over by anti-Israel activists earlier in the day was cleared, along with a tent encampment. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
New York City police officers take people into custody near the Columbia University campus in New York, April 30, 2024, after a building taken over by anti-Israel activists earlier in the day was cleared, along with a tent encampment. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Dozens of Columbia University students who were arrested for occupying a campus building as part of a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protest will have their criminal charges dropped, prosecutors say.

At a court hearing, the Manhattan district attorney’s office says it would not pursue criminal charges for 31 of the 46 people initially arrested on trespassing charges inside the administration building.

Students and their allies seized the building, known as Hamilton Hall, on April 30, barricading themselves inside with furniture and padlocks in a major escalation of campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

At the request of university leaders, hundreds of officers with the New York Police Department stormed onto campus the following night, gaining access to the building through a second-story window and making dozens of arrests.

At the hearing, prosecutors say they were dismissing charges against most of those arrested inside the building due in part to a lack of evidence tying them to specific acts of property damage and the fact that none of the students had criminal histories.

Stephen Millan, an assistant district attorney, notes that the protesters wore masks and blocked surveillance cameras in the building, making it difficult to “prove that they participated in damaging any Columbia University property or causing harm to anyone.”

All of those students are still facing disciplinary hearings and possible expulsion from the university.

Prosecutors said they would move forward with charges against one person involved in the building occupation, who is also accused of breaking an NYPD camera in a holding cell and burning an Israeli flag during a protest.

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