A number of pro-Palestinian demonstrators inside and outside an occupied academic building at Columbia University said they were hurt after last month’s Hamilton Hall raid — despite assurances by Mayor Adams and the NYPD there were no injuries or “violent clashes” during the operation.
Students documented injuries among nine of the 46 protesters arrested on April 30 inside Hamilton Hall, according to interviews and medical records, photographs and written accounts reviewed by the Daily News.
The injuries varied. One of the protesters inside the hall said after being taken into custody on campus, they went to Harlem Health and Children’s Hospital with a laceration that was bleeding heavily, according to medical records. Another said on arrival at Police Headquarters, they went to the emergency room at New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital and received X-rays for wrist pain, documents show.
In the days that followed, others in the group of nine sought care for a fracture of the bone around the eye, several head injuries, a couple of hand burn or pain, an ankle sprain and lingering wounds. Most of those injured asked their names be withheld out of fears of doxxing and harassment.
Outside the building, a Ph.D. student at Columbia Journalism School said she was injured and cared for a classmate who was hurt while rolling down the stairs after a group of protesters formed a human chain to block the NYPD from gaining access to Hamilton. The injuries occurred as police cleared the way; none of the demonstrators, she said, resisted arrest.
“I was struck in the head on the side of my face by an object, either a shield or a baton – it was so painful it was disorienting,” said Allie Wong, 38, the Ph.D. student, who was seen by a doctor for hand pain, a head welt and sore ribs, medical records show. “I was thrown to the ground twice, first at the top of stairs, and second at the base.”
Wong’s charge has since been dismissed.
Christopher Holmes, 25, a graduate student at the Columbia-affiliated Union Theological Seminary who was part of the takeover of Hamilton said he went to urgent care and was diagnosed with a concussion. Days later he experienced eye swelling and sought medical treatment for an orbital lobe fracture, medical records show.
“I was slammed downward to the ground and, when I turned my head to see if there were any comrades who needed assistance, an officer kicked me in the eye and I went straight down, and there was that buzzing and sharp ringing in the ears,”Holmes told Reuters.
The Columbia students occupied Hamilton Hall in escalation of weeks of on-campus protests demanding Columbia divest from Israel. Shortly after the takeover, during which windows were smashed and entrances barricaded, Columbia officials asked the NYPD to clear the building. The request for police to step in came amid growing concern about antisemitic rhetoric and actions in and around the various encampments that sprung up across the city.
The protesters arrested inside Hamilton were arraigned on third-degree criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor, according to the Manhattan DA’s office. Outside the building, 58 summonses for lesser charges are being dismissed, protesters said.
In the days after the sweep, top NYPD brass talked about how smoothly the operation went.
“I think last night is another example of why we call New York’s Finest,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard opened a press conference the morning after the arrests. “Just a tremendous job done by the men and women of the NYPD. Such restraint, such precision. Just a totally, totally, totally great job by the men and women of the NYPD.”
“No injuries, no real scuffles with police. It was just an amazing job,” Sheppard said.
Adams added: “The NYPD’s precision policing ensured that the operation was organized, calm, and that there were no injuries or violent clashes.”
The same day, Columbia President Minouche Shafik, who summoned the NYPD on campus, wrote in a memo to students and faculty: “I thank the NYPD for their incredible professionalism and support.” She did not mention any injuries.
Asked about the protesters’ injuries, the mayor’s office did not directly address the discrepancy with official accounts but described the operation as “complicated.”
“People unaffiliated with the school — and even individuals known by the Police Department to escalate peaceful protests to violent ones across the country — were on campus, surveillance cameras had been dismantled, and Hinds (sic) Hall had unlawfully been occupied and barricaded,” said City Hall spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak, referring to the name protesters gave to the occupied Hamilton Hall after a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed during the war.
“And yet, our officers handled the operation with professionalism and respect,” she continued.
The majority of protesters arrested inside Hamilton Hall were students at Columbia or its affiliated institutions, such as Barnard College and Union Theological Seminary, while a couple were employees of the university, data shared by Columbia showed. Thirteen had no present ties to the university but included alumni of Columbia and Barnard, an analysis by The News found.
Columbia officials, asked by The News, would not say if any injuries during the April 30 raid had been reported to the university. Wong, who was not occupying Hamilton Hall,said she reported her injuries to her dean and the head of her department. Other protesters inside the building are in the process of being expelled. It was also unclear if the injuries have been reported to the Manhattan DA or the NYPD. Asked about possible injuries, each agency referred to the other.
“Both the NYPD and the university would take seriously any complaints of inappropriate behavior and would investigate them,” a Columbia spokesman said in a statement.
The mass arrests were the second time this semester Shafik turned to police to clear a campus pro-Palestinian demonstration. On April 18, NYPD cleared tents erected hours ahead of a congressional campus antisemitism hearing and galvanized a national movement of Columbia-style encampments.
The reports of injuries followed revelations earlier this month of a police officer who fired his gun inside Hamilton Hall, after the incident went undisclosed for days after the raid. Press were blocked from the building, while students and faculty were ordered to shelter in place.
“Obviously, this is very far from no injuries,” said Gideon Oliver, an attorney for some of the arrested students, who was involved in a historic class action settlement agreement after the 2020 George Floyd protests. “Several of the people were brought to receive medical attention while they were in police custody — so the idea [the police] department would say there were no injuries is demonstrably false.”
“NYPD members used real force, caused real injuries and have not told the truth about either,” he added.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, in a statement shortly after the arrests said the NYPD responded to demonstrations at Columbia as well as City College “with intimidation and violence.”
“Reports the NYCLU has received suggest that NYPD Strategic Response Group officers pepper-sprayed, threw to the ground and even drew weapons on students, resulting in injuries,” said Lieberman.
She added that NYPD activity was shielded away from the press, legal observers and NYCLU protest monitors, “raising concerns about press freedom and the transparency that is critical to accountability.”
With Ellen Moynihan
