A fake bomb threat at Barnard College on Wednesday night forced an evacuation as anti-Israel protesters occupied the Milstein Center for the second consecutive week. Over 200 demonstrators refused to leave as more than 50 NYPD officers in riot gear arrived to clear the area.
The protest was part of ongoing demonstrations demanding the reinstatement of two students expelled for disrupting a class on modern Israel by throwing antisemitic flyers. Protesters hung an old west-style “Wanted” poster featuring Dean of Students Leslie Grinage, accusing her of expelling pro-Palestinian students. A crude effigy of Barnard President Laura Rosenbury was also placed on the building’s entrance.
According to New York Post, as police attempted to disperse the crowd, students started chanting slogans like “NYPD, KKK, they are all the same.” The NYPD eventually removed protesters from the courtyard, but many continued to demonstrate on the campus lawn, shouting, “No justice, no peace.”
Despite multiple warnings, some students refused to leave, leading to several arrests. Shortly before 8 p.m., the NYPD announced that the bomb threat had been investigated and cleared.
Barnard College had sent an email earlier condemning the disruptions. “Our academic mission is at the heart of what we do, and disruptions to that mission cannot be tolerated,” the statement read. The school did not provide further comments about the bomb threat.
