NEW YORK – Columbia University has suspended more than 65 students on an interim basis pending investigation and barred 33 individuals from campus after dozens of pro-Palestine protesters stormed the school’s main library during finals week.

That number may change as investigations proceed following the arrest of 80 participants in the demonstration on May 7, said an official at the New York City-based university.

Police entered Butler Library hours after demonstrators, many wearing face coverings and keffiyehs, took over part of the building and draped Palestinian flags along its walls.

The protesters burst in as hundreds of students were preparing for final exams, plastering stickers and drawing on walls and desks, according to images posted on the protest group’s X account.

Police cleared the protesters on May 7 evening, and Columbia reopened the library the next day. The Ivy League university’s acting president, Claire Shipman, fiercely criticised the protesters. BLOOMBERG

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