Columbia University has put a temporary hold on the enrollment of 65 students following an incident where anti-Israel demonstrators took control of a campus building and distributed materials praising an alleged terrorist this week.
The demonstrators occupied Columbia University’s Butler Library on Wednesday evening, declaring they had renamed it “Basel Al-Araj Popular University.” According to the NYPD, 80 individuals were detained, consisting of 19 males and 61 females. Seventy-eight of those apprehended received desk appearance tickets for criminal trespass, while the remaining two were issued a summons.
Protesters at Columbia University handed out a pamphlet that glorified an alleged terrorist. (Fox News)
Homeland Security Investigations is requesting fingerprints and the names of those arrested to check their visa status.
Besides suspending students, Columbia University has also restricted certain alumni from accessing the campus and has taken similar measures against 33 individuals from related institutions.
Claire Shipman, Columbia’s acting president, said in a statement Wednesday the NYPD was called to help “secure” the library. She added that two university police officers were injured.
“Sadly, during the course of this disruption, two of our Columbia Public Safety Officers sustained injuries during a crowd surge when individuals attempted to force their way into the building and into Room 301,” Shipman said. “These actions are outrageous.”
In a separate statement, Shipman called out the library takeover as unacceptable.
Protest stickers were put on the doors at Butler Library on Columbia University’s campus on May 7, 2025 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian protesters held a demonstration inside the Butler Library on Columbia University’s campus, disrupting finals week. ( Indy Scholtens/Getty Images)
“Disruptions to our academic activities will not be tolerated and are violations of our rules and policies; this is especially unacceptable while our students study and prepare for final exams. Columbia strongly condemns violence on our campus, antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination, some of which we witnessed today. We are resolute that calls for violence or harm have no place at our University,” Shipman said.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Alexis McAdams, Jennifer Johnson, Louis Casiano and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
