A large group of New York police officers cleared Columbia University’s weeklong pro-Palestinian protest encampment, including a building that was occupied by protesters, late Tuesday night.
On the same day 56 years earlier, the front page of Columbia’s student newspaper featured similar scenes of officers storming into crowds of students protesting the Vietnam War and proposed segregation policies.
The resurfaced front page of the Columbia Spectator, which was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Omar Jimenez, stated that on April 30, 1968, Columbia University called 1,000 police officers to end the demonstration at multiple buildings — including Hamilton Hall. The situation ended in nearly 700 arrests and 100 injuries.
The front page photo shows police officers surrounding a professor outside a building on the campus. The caption states that law enforcement stomped and kicked protesters.
On Tuesday, New York City Police Department officers on Columbia’s campus detained 100 people and cleared about 30 people from Hamilton Hall. Demonstrators had set up encampments on campus and occupied the academic building to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza, which have killed more than 30,000 people since the militant group Hamas killed hundreds of civilians in October.
The protesters demanded that the university divest from businesses that are profiting off Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and that the college increase transparency on their ties to Israel — a demand similar to that of yet another past set of protests on campus, when students in 1985 called for divestments from companies doing business with South Africa during apartheid.
The university responded to Tuesday’s protest with an announcement that the NYPD will remain on campus until May 17, after the college’s graduation ceremony is set to take place.
Check out photos of the 1968 protest below:
