By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - New York Police Department officers entered the Columbia University building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters late Tuesday amid reports that dozens of people have been taken into custody.
Police entered Hamilton Hall from a second-floor window after using a mobile ladder to access the facility. Television footage aired by CNN showed dozens of officers in riot gear entering the building with some carrying zip-tie restraints and heavy-duty bolt cutters.
Protesters entered the building early Tuesday morning, which they have renamed "Hind's Hall" in memory of 6-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab, who was brutally killed in Gaza, and maintained they would not leave the building unless their demands are met.
They are seeking to have Columbia divest from Israeli firms and condemn Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
Columbia President Minouche Shafik has maintained the school will not divest.
Many of the buildings on campus were locked down Tuesday without an apparent resolution to the standoff in sight.