NYPD clears anti-Israel protesters at Barnard College after bomb threat
Student activists distribute Hamas propaganda during library takeover, the latest in a series of escalating disruptions at the Columbia-affiliated campus
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — Police cleared anti-Israel protesters from the area of a library at New York’s Barnard Campus on Wednesday after a raucous demonstration and a bomb threat, the latest in a series of escalating incidents on the campus.
A group of protesters entered Barnard’s Milstein Library, where they chanted anti-Israel slogans, waved Palestinian flags, beat a drum and carried an effigy of the college president.
Barnard is an affiliate of Columbia University and the protest groups include students from both institutions.
“Shut it down,” the protesters chanted into a megaphone, according to footage shared by the activists, most of whose faces were covered by keffiyehs and masks.
Jewish students at the scene shared photos showing the protesters distributed pamphlets by the “Hamas media office,” photos of the late Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah, and wrote “Death to America” in the library guest book.
Activists posted stickers around the protest that had the image of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the October 7, 2023, attack who was killed in Gaza by Israeli forces last year.
Happening now: protesters @BarnardCollege are handing out pamphlets written by the Hamas Media Office justifying October 7th.
This is terrorist support in its rawest and most obvious form. pic.twitter.com/1t2V9HDNvw
— Elisha (Lishi) Baker (@LishiBaker) March 5, 2025
Barnard administrators handed out letters saying the disruption and library blockage was an “unauthorized activity” and that the protesters had refused to disperse, despite multiple warnings.
The letter warned the protesters that campus security would “review your identification and escort you off of the Barnard campus.”
Several hours into the protest, the NYPD said it was responding to a bomb threat at the location and that anyone who refused to leave was subject to arrest. The students refused to leave, saying they did not believe the bomb threat was real.
‼️BREAKING: Barnard admin attempt to clear sit-in by claiming there is a B*MB THREAT on the building!
Students are standing their ground and not taken in by admin LIES! pic.twitter.com/iYwZQ86LS0
— Unity of Fields (@unityoffields) March 5, 2025
Footage showed some protesters scuffling with police, shouting at officers and being detained. The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Columbia said in a statement that Barnard is a separate institution, although it is affiliated, and called the disruption “not acceptable conduct.”
The protest came a day after the Trump administration threatened to cut off more than $50 million in contracts with Columbia, and said it was reviewing more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to the university, due to antisemitism.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which has grilled universities over antisemitism since October 7, called the protest “shameful.”
In another warning, Trump said Tuesday that he will cut federal funding to any educational institution “that allows illegal protests,” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Protests on the campus have reignited after Barnard expelled two students for disrupting an Israeli professor’s class at the start of the semester.
Anti-Israel protesters last week invaded a campus building at Barnard, injuring a university employee and causing $30,000 in damage in response to the expulsions. A campus protest group said on Monday that a third Barnard student had been expelled.
On Tuesday, more than 200 anti-Israel demonstrators protested an event held by former prime minister Naftali Bennett at Columbia.
Last year, anti-Israel protesters took over a building on Columbia’s campus. The administration called in police to clear out the demonstrators, resulting in dozens of arrests. An off-campus activist group released new footage of the takeover on Tuesday.
Also Wednesday, the US Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into antisemitism at the University of California, one of the leading public university systems in the US.
The federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism said the probe will investigate whether the university system violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination.
“This Department of Justice will always defend Jewish Americans, protect civil rights, and leverage our resources to eradicate institutional Antisemitism in our nation’s universities,” said US Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
Most federal probes into campus antisemitism are filed under Title VI, which prohibits discrimination in institutions that receive federal funding. Jewish legal groups are also seeking to expand the use of Title II, a law that prohibits discrimination in public spaces.
In response to the investigation, the University of California said it “is unwavering in its commitment to combating antisemitism and protecting everyone’s civil rights.”
“We continue to take specific steps to foster an environment free of harassment and discrimination for everyone in the university community,” the university said in a statement.
