Video Credit - Credit: Anusha Subramanian


Tensions flared once again at Columbia University as NYPD officers, authorized by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, intervened on May 7, 2025, to disperse Pro-Palestinian student protesters occupying the Butler Library. The dramatic moments were captured by journalist Anusha Subramanian in a video now circulating widely on social media.
The footage shows police entering the university's iconic Butler Library where student activists had staged an organized sit-in. The protest, led by the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest, was part of a growing wave of pro-Palestinian campus activism sparked by the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.
Protesters had renamed the library’s reading room in honor of Palestinian scholar Basel al-Araj and were demanding that Columbia cut financial ties with companies supplying Israel’s military. This comes amid political pressure and federal funding cuts initiated during the Trump administration over what officials claimed was the university’s failure to curb antisemitism.
The NYPD’s intervention saw at least 34 students arrested. Two public safety officers were reportedly injured during the operation. Media access was heavily restricted during the sweep, mirroring similar tactics seen during the 2024 protests where over 100 students were detained for trespassing.
“They’re trying to silence us, but we won’t stop until Columbia divests from genocide,” said one student protester before being taken into custody.
As university campuses nationwide face rising student unrest over international conflicts, Columbia once again finds itself at the epicenter of the clash between free speech, institutional power, and police presence.