Dozens of protesters arrested as NYPD storm Columbia campus to crush pro-Gaza protest

Hundreds of NYPD officers stormed the campus of Columbia University to take back control of a building seized by pro-Palestine protesters.

Dozens of student protesters are thought to have been detained after police were seen entering an upper storey of Hamilton Hall -- renamed Hind Hall by protesters in memory of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in January.

The protests at the New York university have been going on for weeks, sparking similar demonstrations at some 50 campuses across the country.

On Tuesday evening authorities at Columbia said they had no choice but to bring police in, saying Hamilton Hall “had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded”.

Shortly before 11pm est, the NYPD said the building had been cleared and that about 100 people had been arrested. They also said there had been no one resisting arrest and that there had not been any injuries.

Police had shut down several city blocks ahead of the raid as hundreds of officers gathered outside the campus, many of them carrying zip ties.

Arrests began shortly after 9pm. Detained protesters were led away from the campus down Amsterdam Avenue to waiting police buses, some of them carried by officers.

The NYPD denied that officers used tear gas on demonstrators, saying that false reports had been ciculated online. Officers may use flashbang grenades «to deflect or surprise» protesters, CNN reported.

However, the Washington Post reported that some officers entered Hamilton Hall with their guns drawn.

Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had visited protesters at Columbia last week, tweeted a warning as the police action got under way.

She wrote: “If any kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall on the mayor and univ