- Written by Phil McCausland
- BBC News, New York
The New York City Police Department said Tuesday that an officer accidentally fired his weapon while removing pro-Palestinian protesters from a building on the Columbia University campus.
No one was injured, and the bullet was found in a nearby wall.
City officials said the matter is under investigation.
The NYPD held a press conference Friday to address the issue after days of criticism for not announcing the incident when it occurred three days earlier.
“Accidental discharges occur every year, with an average of about eight cases per year, but there are no requests.” [for information] That’s about it,” said Sergeant Tariq Shepard, New York City Warning and Highways Officer.
“If you ask me any questions about it, I’ll talk to you like I’m doing right now.”
The NYPD said in a statement Thursday night that an unnamed emergency services worker was using a firearm’s flashlight attachment to illuminate a barricade inside Hamilton Hall, which was occupied by protesters following orders to disperse.
The officer fired one shot into a wall several feet away. The New York City Police Department announced that it immediately investigated the incident and determined that the accident was an act of violence. Officials said there were no students in the area at the time of the shooting.
However, police did not publicly announce the shooting or the internal investigation until local news outlet The City reported on the incident.
image source, Getty Images
The officer’s body camera captured the shooting, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was provided with the footage for the Police Accountability Division to investigate.
Columbia University President Minoush Shafiq called the NYPD to campus on Tuesday and asked them to clear Hamilton Hall, the school building occupied by protesters on Monday night. This is the second time Shafik has dispatched police to campus in response to pro-Palestinian protests.
Students, faculty and staff will have very limited access to campus for the rest of the year until several weeks before the end of the semester. The university announced that all finals will be held online.
Police released video of the man in Hamilton breaking open a door, climbing through a second-story window and removing chairs and desks from a stairwell. The footage appeared to show protesters inflicting minor damage, but did not show any violent reaction by the protesters.
University students told the BBC earlier this week that police treated protesters in a “rough and aggressive” manner, a charge denied by the NYPD.
Police said the protesters detained on Tuesday were charged with a variety of crimes, including robbery, obstruction of public administration, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct. Approximately 29% of those arrested on campus were not affiliated with the university, according to NYPD data.
image source, Getty Images
The protests at Columbia University led to a growing U.S. student movement calling attention to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, where the Hamas-led Health Ministry says more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The BBC revealed that there were nearly 140 campus protests and encampments in response to the Israeli war after the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis.
Students are demanding that the school divest capital from weapons manufacturers and institutions and companies associated with Israel. It also requires schools to disclose their investments in institutional investors.
Some universities were able to end pro-Palestinian protests peacefully. The University of Minnesota and Rutgers University announced Thursday that they have entered into agreements with protesters to clear the encampment.
In exchange, school administrators agreed to consider the students’ divestment requests and make their investments publicly accessible.
But most protests, especially recently, have not ended so amicably.
Police cleared protesters from a camp at the University of California, Los Angeles on Wednesday, arresting about 200 people.
At Portland State University in Oregon, authorities removed protesters from a library building on Thursday and detained dozens of students.
Early Friday morning, student organizers announced that the New York City Police Department had loaded 50 New York University and New School protesters onto prison buses and removed them from an encampment in downtown Manhattan.
US President Joe Biden called on pro-Palestinian demonstrators on university campuses to uphold the rule of law.
Biden spoke directly about the student protests for the first time at the White House on Thursday, saying, “We are a civil society and order must prevail.”
Protests have also surfaced beyond the U.S. border in countries such as Canada, Australia and France.
Police say they are monitoring a growing encampment at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, after Quebec’s premier called for its evacuation.
Pro-Palestinian protesters camped at the University of Toronto were allowed to stay as long as their “activity remains peaceful,” the university said.
