College protests updates: Police begin dismantling University of Chicago encampment
Police entered the campus encampment early Tuesday, WLS reported.
Protests have broken out at colleges and universities across the country in connection with the war in Gaza.
Many pro-Palestinian protesters are calling for their colleges to divest of funds from Israeli military operations, while some Jewish students on the campuses have called the protests antisemitic and said they are scared for their safety.
The student protests -- some of which have turned into around-the-clock encampments -- have erupted throughout the nation following arrests and student removals at Columbia University in New York City. Students at schools including Yale University, New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Southern California and more have launched protests.
Latest headlines:
- Over 300 Harvard professors sign letter urging Harvard to negotiate with protesters
- Police begin dismantling encampment at University of Chicago
- MIT students ordered to leave campus encampment
- More than 60 arrests made at UC San Diego
- Harvard president threatens 'involuntary leave' for students who continue encampment
NYPD officers have entered Hamilton Hall through second-floor window
New York Police Department officers have entered Hamilton Hall through the second-floor window.
NYPD moves in at Columbia, begins making arrests
New York Police Department officers have moved onto the Columbia University campus and have begun making arrests.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
Columbia authorizes NYPD to move onto campus
New York City has received authorization from Columbia University to send the NYPD onto campus, a senior city official told ABC News.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
USC President condemns swastika drawn on campus
University of Southern California President Carol Folt released a statement Tuesday after being alerted to an alleged swastika drawn on the USC campus.
"I've just been made aware of a swastika drawn on our campus," Folt said in an update on X Tuesday afternoon.
"I condemn any antisemitic symbols or any form of hate speech against anyone. Clearly it was drawn there to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community," Folt continued.
Folt said the university is investigating and that the swastika has been removed.
People who occupied Columbia building were led by people unaffiliated with school, NYPD says
The mayor said those who occupied Hamilton Hall were led by people unaffiliated with Columbia University.
Those protesters made a change to more aggressive tactics and represented an "elevated concern," Rebecca Weiner, the NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said Wednesday.
"The situation had deteriorated to the point where the safety of students, staff and the public was at risk," Police Commissioner Edward Caban said.
There were 282 arrests on a range of mainly minor offenses -- 173 at City College and 119 at Columbia.
"It was a tough decision," Adams said, of the university authorizing the NYPD to move onto campus. "The action had to end and we brought it to a peaceful conclusion."
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky