Shafik in a public letter to the NYPD said more than 100 individuals were occupying the South Lawn when she asked police to move in, and that all participants were unauthorized to be on university property.

Police warned demonstrators through a loudspeaker that those who refused to disperse would be considered trespassing. In zip ties, the students were shuttled away by police wearing helmets to buses stationed around the perimeter of campus.

After the crackdown, protesters gathered nearby to denounce the university’s handling of the situation.

“The police presence and the arrests do not deter us in any way. As challenging as the environment has been on campus for Palestinian students, we realize that this is nothing compared to what people in Gaza are going through,” said Layla Saliba, a Palestinian-American social work student who suffered a spray attack in January.

A premed student said he witnessed one person on the ground who was picked up and zip-tied at the hands and feet.

The arrests he observed were not “superviolent,” he said. “But it obviously wasn’t gentle.”

Cops said 500 students left their classrooms throughout the day to come out to the quad. They remained on the lawns throughout the day, chanting: “Whose campus? Our campus,” “Free Palestine,” and “Disclose, divest. We will not stop, we will not rest.”

Prior to the NYPD moving in, at least three pro-Palestinian students at Columbia University were suspended Thursday, while a handful protesters outside the campus gates were taken into custody earlier, university officials and cops said. The number of suspensions, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), was expected to grow as more students are linked to the encampment.

Student organizers quickly blasted the suspensions in a press release and on social media, which they said means students have lost access to their food, housing and medical center.

“As of a few minutes ago, I received notice from Barnard administration that I had been suspended for my involvement in the illicit solidarity encampment,” Maryam Iqbal said in a clip posted to Instagram.

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