New York’s police department has declared that approximately 29% of the people it arrested at pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University were “not affiliated” with the institution, as the city’s mayor continues to face scrutiny over his claims that the hardline police response was due to the actions of “outside agitators”.
The NYPD also said 60% of arrestees at City College of New York (CCNY) on Tuesday night were unaffiliated with the college, though a CCNY spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that these arrest figures applied to protesters both on and off the college’s grounds.
The statements came as police across the US have arrested almost 2,200 people at campus protests in 43 different locations during a week of heightened tension and unrest that has often been met with tough action from law enforcement.
On Friday morning, the NYPD began clearing protest encampments at two other campuses in the city, arresting 13 people at New York University and 43 people at the New School, according to reports. Details of the operations were continuing to emerge, but speaking in the immediate aftermath, the NYPD deputy commissioner Kaz Daughtry continued to claim outside influences had organized the protests.
“There is somebody funding this. There is somebody radicalizing our students,” the deputy commissioner said, citing as evidence “literature and leaflets” found at both campuses.
Despite police activity ramping up, protests continued at campuses across the country. Early on Thursday, officers surged against a crowd of demonstrators at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), ultimately taking at least 200 protesters into custody. In North Carolina, hundreds of students at UNC Chapel Hill marched across campus on Friday morning.
On Thursday night, police in Portland, Oregon, arrested at least seven people who had occupied the state university’s library. On Long Island in New York a group of protesters gathered at Stony Brook University to show support for the 29 people arrested during protests the previous evening, local news reported.
The NYPD release, issued on Thursday evening, stated that 80 of the 112 protesters arrested at Columbia on Tuesday were students. The police department added that 68 of the 170 people arrested at a separate protest at CCNY were also students, meaning 60% were “unaffiliated”.
But some observers questioned how the department had determined its definition of “unaffiliated” arrestees, and where some of the arrests took place.
Journalists covering events at CCNY noted that two strands of protests occurred on Tuesday night, one on campus and another outside of it.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to questions over how many of those included in its arrest breakdown were taken into custody outside of college grounds. A spokesperson for CCNY confirmed that the figure related to arrests both outside and inside campus but did not provide a further breakdown.
On Thursday evening, Columbia University provided a more detailed breakdown of those arrested inside Hamilton Hall, which had been occupied by protesters earlier in the week – an event cited by the university and the city’s police as a sign of escalation.
The university said that of the 44 people arrested inside the building 13 were “non-affiliates” while 14 were undergraduates and nine were graduate students. Two Columbia staff were arrested and six students from affiliated universities.
A spokesperson for Columbia described “non-affiliates” as “outsiders – not students, not employees”.
In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday night’s police crackdown, Adams repeatedly accused “outside agitators” of influencing students. The mayor said occupation of the hall and destruction of property was “the tipping point for me”.
While authorities have lauded the police action at both campuses, the NYPD announced on Thursday evening that an officer had accidentally discharged their firearm during the operation at Hamilton Hall. The bullet did not hit anyone and there were no injuries, the NYPD said, adding that the officer had been holding a firearm with an attached flashlight they had used for “illuminating the area”.
A review by the Associated Press indicated there had been at least 56 mass arrest incidents on US campuses since 18 April.
Students have stepped up their protests, demanding a complete ceasefire in Gaza and divestment by their universities from companies with ties to Israel.
On Friday, students at Princeton University in New Jersey announced a hunger strike as part of their Palestinian solidarity encampment, calling for dissociation and divestment from Israel, as well as protecting protesters from punishment.
“We refuse to be silenced by the university administration’s intimidation and repression tactics. We struggle together in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We commit our bodies to their liberation,” Princeton Divest said in a statement, adding that participants would abstain from all food and drink, except water, until their demands are met by Princeton.
Israel has branded the protests across the US antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers – some of whom are Jewish – call it a peaceful movement to defend Palestinian rights and protest against the war.
Some counter-protesters across campuses have also been caught on camera making offensive remarks and violent threats to pro-Palestinian protesters. On Tuesday, counter-protesters launched a violent attack against a pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA, causing 25 people to be hospitalized overnight, according to UC Divest at UCLA.
Joe Biden on Thursday broke his silence on the protest movement and subsequent unrest. In remarks delivered at the White House, the president defended the right to free speech, but added that “order must prevail”.
“Dissent is essential for democracy,” Biden said. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.”
The president resisted calls from some Republicans to call in the national guard but added that the protests had not made him reconsider his foreign policy agenda in Israel.
“There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos,” Biden added. “People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked.”
