Fifteen arrests were reportedly made after a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” popped up at Fordham University on Wednesday, only to be taken down by police later in the day.
The encampment also occurred hours after tent cities at two other NYC universities were destroyed by police.
Two prison buses have arrived at the encampment, and the school notified protesters late Wednesday afternoon that they’re suspended and banned from campus.
The night before, hundreds of anti-Israel demonstrators were arrested at Columbia and the City College of New York campuses in a “massive” NYPD operation.
A total of 282 people were arrested: 109 people at the Ivy League campus after cops busted the mob that took over the university’s Hamilton Hall, and 173 at the “intifada” encampment at City College.
Fifteen people were reportedly arrested after police entered the lobby of Fordham University’s Leon Lowenstein Center from inside, where students had erected tents as part of a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”
The school requested the NYPD to disperse the encampment, according to a letter from Fordham.
“In an effort to ensure that further escalation does not occur, I have determined that the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger,” the letter states.
Cops removed the protesters from the encampment while wearing riot gear, arresting demonstrators at around 5:40 p.m on Wednesday.
The protesters — who had already been suspended and told they were trespassing — were handcuffed by Strategic Response Group police and escorted into the building away from the roughly 300 supporters chanting for their release from the sidewalk.
#HappeningNow: In an effort to ensure further escalation does not occur, @FordhamNYC has requested our assistance to disperse an unlawful encampment of individuals inside one of their buildings. Attached is the letter from the university.
Your @NYPDnews officers continue to… pic.twitter.com/oU3SKzmJYg
— NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations Kaz Daughtry (@NYPDDaughtry) May 1, 2024
