NEW YORK — On Wednesday, Barnard College’s library was evacuated following a false bomb threat amid a sit-in organized by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Responding to the call, the New York Police Department indicated on the social platform X that the threat had been reported at the Milstein Center, the center of academic life at the college in Upper Manhattan. The department warned that individuals who refused to evacuate would face arrest.
By around 8 p.m., police confirmed on X that the threat had been “investigated and cleared.” Although nine individuals were detained after the event, the specific charges they faced were not immediately disclosed.
Footage circulating on social media captured scenes of protesters inside the building earlier in the day. They were seen chanting, playing drums, and displaying Palestinian flags on the walls. Many wore kaffiyeh scarves and other clothings that obscured their faces.
Additional footage from the evening depicted police entering the facility wearing helmets and carrying zip ties, later clearing and detaining protesters from the lawn outside the building.
Following the event, Barnard President Laura Ann Rosenbury assured that the women’s college, which is affiliated with Columbia University, would resume its normal academic operations on Thursday.
She criticized those protesting for compromising the safety of staff and students by ignoring evacuation directives after being alerted of the threat and triggering a fire alarm, which led to the necessity of police intervention.
“Today has been unsettling and disturbing, and these continued disruptions take a toll on our community,” Rosenbury expressed in a statement. “The desire of a few to disrupt and threaten cannot outweigh the needs of the students, faculty, and staff who call our campus home.”
Meanwhile, the group Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine dismissed the threat as being “manufactured by Barnard administrators” solely to disperse the protest. They noted in their posts on X that despite the ongoing police inquiry, detained students were taken back into the library.
The sit-in was initiated by the student group around 1 p.m. in reaction to the expulsion of student protesters and other recent administrative actions.
Just last week, pro-Palestinian protesters, some wearing keffiyeh scarves and masks, forced entry into the college’s Milbank Hall, which contains the dean’s offices, and reportedly assaulted a school employee according to college officials.
Protest organizers eventually dispersed after school administration agreed to engage with them on their calls for amnesty for all students subjected to disciplinary action for participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
