NYPD bodycam shows officers breaching Columbia University building taken by anti-Israel protesters
By: Video taken from New York City police officers' body-worn cameras shows authorities forcing their way inside a Columbia University building this week that had been overtaken by anti-Israel protesters.
The video shows the moment NYPD officers wearing protective gear breached Hamilton Hall on Tuesday night, where the protesters had barricaded themselves inside.
"We shall not be moved," protesters outside the building are heard singing as officers move toward the building.
Many of the protesters were not students at the university, but outside agitators, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard told "Your World Cavuto" on Thursday.
"They are professionals," he said." They may just fly in for a day or two and leave. You'll see them traveling around the country, and they have funding."
"The students are already passionate and upset about an issue, and now you have a person whispering in your ear 'Hey, you know, we should take over the building' or something like that," Sheppard added. "When young minds that are in that state, it's pretty easy to then be influenced by somebody who is a professional at manipulation."
The bodycam footage shows the officers using a tool to open a front door at Hamilton Hall, which had multiple chairs stacked against it from the inside.
Once inside, the officers encountered a man-made barrier of what appeared to be furniture that required a saw to cut through. Protesters are heard from the outside chanting "Free, free Palestine!"
At one point, an officer says "Let's deploy a flashbang (grenade)," which was followed by a series of loud bangs. After cutting through the barrier, officers came into contact with protesters sitting inside a room where they were detained.
Authorities were only allowed to move protesters from the campus after the university officially requested help, Sheppard said, adding that several universities in the city have asked the NYPD to have a presence on their campus at least through the middle of May.
"Many of them are requesting that. What we've asked is that they come up with a plan to self-sustain. However, we will not leave them, and we don't want the campuses to return to the state that it was in," he said.