We Columbia students and community members are horrified at the mistreatment and violence used against the protestors at Butler library. We demand there be a formal investigation into the Columbia University staff who brutalized students yesterday in the name of “safety.”

Footage of the events show Public Safety slamming protestors to the ground and physically blocking the door as they asked to leave. Public Safety violently arrested a student attempting to take pictures and refused him medical services as he screamed in pain. Many of us watched as multiple students were carried out in stretchers and hospitalized. Claire Shipman and the Columbia administration have refused to acknowledge the violence against student protestors, instead commending Public Safety and the NYPD for their “help and professionalism.”

Calling NYPD and deploying militant Public Safety officers on students is unacceptable. The Columbia administration did not engage in good faith efforts to resolve the matter peacefully, preferring a show of force against students over mediation. Columbia prioritized identifying students for discipline over safely diffusing the situation in a clear effort to further appease the authoritarian Trump regime. We find this deeply disturbing, and demand Columbia investigate abuses by Public Safety, commit to cops off campus, and acknowledge and apologize for the people they brutalized.