New York City – Nine violent Hamas supporting protesters were arrested this week after violently storming Barnard College in an incident marked by anti-Jewish hostility, escalating tensions on the Columbia University-affiliated campus.
The arrests, which took place on Wednesday, March 5, followed a disruptive takeover of the college’s Milstein Library, sparked by a fake bomb threat and fueled by ongoing protests over the expulsion of students involved in prior anti-Israel demonstrations.
The arrested individuals, identified as Symmes Cannon, Gabrielle Wimer, Hannah Puelle, and Yunseo Chung—all students at Columbia University—along with Tramy Dong of Barnard College and Christopher Holmes of Union Theological Seminary, were charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing, and obstructing governmental administration.
The incident unfolded when approximately 200 masked protesters, many concealing their faces with keffiyehs or masks, stormed the Milstein Library, chanting anti-Israel slogans such as “Shut it down” and distributing propaganda, including pamphlets from the “Hamas media office” and images of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Reports from Jewish students at the scene also noted graffiti reading “Death to America” in the library’s guest book, underscoring the extremist rhetoric of the demonstration.
The protest was reportedly organized in response to the recent expulsion of three Barnard students, who had previously disrupted university activities with anti-Israel actions, including a takeover of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall in April 2024.
The situation escalated when a bomb threat was called in around 4:30 p.m., prompting the New York Police Department (NYPD) to intervene. After nearly two hours of clearing the building in the pouring rain, officers detained the nine individuals who refused to comply with orders to disperse.
No explosives were found, and the campus was declared secure by late Wednesday evening. Barnard College President Laura Ann Rosenbury assured the community that regular academic activities would resume the following morning, though she condemned the “disturbing and unacceptable” disruption to classes and studies.