Police clear pro-Palestinian protesters at Barnard College amid bomb threat; several arrested

NEW YORK — Barnard College’s library was evacuated Wednesday as police responded to a fake bomb threat during a sit-in by pro-Palestinian protesters.

The New York Police Department said on the social platform X that the threat was reported at the Upper Manhattan college’s Milstein Center, which serves as the hub for academic life on campus. The department said anyone refusing to leave during the evacuation would be subject to arrest.

At about 8 p.m., police announced on X that the threat was “investigated and cleared.” A spokesperson said later that about nine people were taken into custody following the demonstration, though it was not immediately clear what charges they faced.

Videos shared widely on social media showed protesters inside the building earlier Wednesday afternoon chanting, playing drums and hanging Palestinian flags on walls. Most wore kaffiyeh scarves or other coverings obscuring their faces.

Videos from Wednesday evening showed police entering the building wearing helmets and carrying zip ties and later clearing and detaining protesters and others from the lawn outside the building.

Barnard President Laura Ann Rosenbury said afterward that the women’s college, which is affiliated with Columbia University, would resume its regular academic schedule Thursday.

She denounced protesters as endangering staff and students by refusing to evacuate the building after officials notified them of the threat and activated the fire alarm — leaving the school no choice but to request police assistance, she said.

“Today has been unsettling and disturbing, and these continued disruptions take a toll on our community,” Rosenbury said in a statement. “The desire of a few to disrupt and threaten cannot outweigh the needs of the students, faculty, and staff who call our campus home.”

The group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine dismissed the threat as “manufactured by Barnard administrators” to clear the protest, noting in posts on X that police brought detained students back into the library even as they continued their investigation.

The student group launched its sit-in around 1 p.m. Wednesday in response to the expulsions of student protesters and other recent actions taken by school officials.

Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters wearing keffiyehs and masks pushed their way into Barnard’s Milbank Hall, which houses the offices of the dean, and assaulted a school employee, according to school officials.

Protest organizers said they dispersed after the administration agreed to meet with them over their demands, which included amnesty for all students disciplined for pro-Palestinian action.

Marcelo writes for the Associated Press.