NYPD Clears Fordham University Tent Encampment, Arrests 15

New York police made 15 arrests while dispersing a tent encampment set up by anti-Israel protesters at Fordham University on Wednesday afternoon as college campuses continued to be rocked by unrest not seen since the days of the Vietnam War.

The arrests at Fordham came a day after hundreds of protesters were arrested in similar demonstrations at Columbia University and The City College of New York.

At approximately 5:26 p.m., police reportedly entered the lobby of Fordham's Lowenstein Hall, where Students for Justice in Palestine erected tents as part of a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" in the early hours Wednesday.

Police clad in riot gear removed protesters from the encampment, arresting demonstrators at about 5:40 p.m., the New York Post reported. The protesters, who had been suspended and told they were trespassing, were handcuffed by the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, and escorted into the building away from the roughly 300 supporters chanting for their release from the sidewalk.

Kaz Daugherty, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for operations, posted on X that "without incident, we have placed the individuals who refused to disperse from the unlawful encampment inside a @FordhamNYC building under arrest."

Police were responding to a request made by Fordham, a private school located in the Bronx, to intervene. In a letter from the school to Michael Gerber, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner on legal matters, the university said about 30 individuals were inside Lowenstein Hall and that additional protests surfaced that were "encroaching on Fordham property" outside the hall.

"With the utmost regret, we request the NYPD’s help to clear all individuals from the encampment," the letter stated. "As part of this process, we understand the NYPD has plans to use amplifying devices to inform participants in the encampments they must disperse.

"In light of activities that are currently happening, we further request that you retain a presence on campus through at least May 22 [when commencement and diploma ceremonies are completed] to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished."