HARLEM, NEW YORK CITY: "Dozens of anti-Israel protesters broke into an academic building at Columbia University and took it over early Tuesday morning, hours after the school began suspending students who refused to vacate their encampment. Footage posted on social media shows numerous protesters milling about inside Hamilton Hall with some placing wooden chairs and tables in front of the doors to block others from entering shortly before 1 a.m. Another shocking video shows a hammer-wielding demonstrator inside the building smash two windows of an exterior door and place what appears to be a bike lock around the door’s handles.

According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, the student newspaper, the rogue group who made it inside tossed their belongings on the floor and then immediately began working to barricade themselves inside the building located along the South Lawn, which has been the scene of the school’s anti-Israel encampment for over a week. The protesters even covered security cameras inside Hamilton Hall with tape and black trash bags, according to the newspaper.

When the group barged into the building, several campus facilities workers were still inside. The protesters removed some of the barricades to let them out. One of the workers yelled, “They held me hostage” as he left the building and smacked somebody’s camera, according to the student newspaper.

“We will not leave until Columbia meets every one of our demands,” the protesters said in a directed chant."

https://nypost.com/2024/04/30/us-news/columbia-university-protesters-take-over-hamilton-hall/