Pro-Palestine Protesters Barricade Themselves Inside Columbia Building

Pro-Palestinian protesters stormed into a Columbia University building and barricaded themselves inside early Tuesday, the latest dramatic escalation in the ongoing demonstrations denouncing Israel’s war in Gaza currently blazing at campuses across the country.

Dozens of protesters used tables and chairs to block the entrances to Hamilton Hall in the early hours, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator. Activists inside the building—which was once occupied during a 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam war protest—reportedly unfurled banners reading “Free Palestine” and “Hind’s Hall” in reference to Hind Rajab, the 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was found dead in February after making a desperate phone call for help.

Columbia started suspending students on Monday if they broke a 2 p.m. deadline to vacate an encampment nearby. Such students won’t be able to graduate or return to university housing. It’s not year clear how many individuals have been hit by the suspensions.

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