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Arrests at Columbia University as police move in on pro-Palestinian protesters
NEW YORK — Police arrested protesters at Columbia University Thursday as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators faced off.
Police started making arrests Thursday afternoon at a makeshift encampment that pro-Palestinian protesters had set up on Columbia’s South Lawn.
As arrests were being made, some protesters could be heard chanting “NYPD KKK.”
In a letter, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik asked the NYPD to move in, writing “I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.”
“With great regret, we request the NYPD’s help to remove these individuals,” she wrote.
Shafik said all university students participating in the encampment are being suspended.
“I regret that all of these attempts to resolve the situation were rejected by the students involved. As a result, NYPD officers are now on campus and the process of clearing the encampment is underway,” Shafik wrote in a statement to the Columbia community.
The NYPD brought in buses to hold those who were detained. Demonstrations were taking place both on and off campus.
“Columbia is committed to allowing members of our community to engage in political expression – within established rules and with respect for the safety of all,” Shafik wrote.
The dueling demonstrations started on Wednesday, but were ratcheted up on Thursday. The first arrests started just after 8 a.m., as small pro-Palestinian demonstrations were taking place outside Columbia’s campus gates. Some demonstrators expressed discontent with how they say the NYPD handled the situation.
“There was no point of ever working with the police. Like every single step of the way, they were escalating it,” a protester named Selena said.
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It wasn’t immediately clear how many arrests were made. According to protesters, police started detaining them Thursday morning for blocking the entrance to the subway, which they say was not the case.
“Not allowing us to exercise any of our rights,” Selena said.
Protests continue after Columbia’s president testifies
Demonstrations began when Shafik testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill, where she was accused of failing to discipline students for antisemitic rhetoric. Demonstrators at the Morningside Heights campus reacted to her testimony.
“Columbia has shown over and over they don’t care about students’ rights, voices or safety,” said Aidan Parisi, a pro-Palestinian protester.
“I’m scared to wear a Jewish star here. I’ve gotten very nasty antisemitic comments at me and I don’t understand how this is accepted,” Kim Silverman said.
The vast majority of Thursday morning’s protesters were not Columbia students.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
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Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.