NYPD issues arrest figures amid ‘outsideagitator’ claim at Columbia Gaza protestNew York’s police department has declaredthat approximately 29 per cent of the people itarrested at pro-Palestinian protests at ColumbiaUniversity were “not affiliated” with theinstitution.The NYPD also said 60% of arrestees at CityCollege of New York (CCNY) were unaffiliatedwith the college.Police across the US have arrested almost2,200 people at campus protests in 43 differentlocations during a week of heightened tensionand unrest.Last Friday, 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.The NYPD deputy commissioner believes outside influences had organised the protests.“There is somebody funding this. There is somebody radicalising our students,” the deputycommissioner said, citing literature and leaflets found at both campuses.Students have stepped up their protests, demanding a complete ceasefire in Gaza and divestmentby their universities from companies with ties to Israel.On Friday, students at Princeton University in New Jersey announced a hunger strike, stating:“We struggle in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We commit our bodies to their liberation.”Joe Biden last Thursday broke his silence on the protest movement and subsequent unrest:“There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos. People have the right to get aneducation, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across campus safely without fear of beingattacked.” The Guardian
