Nearly all of the people who were arrested inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Halllast month had their cases dropped Thursday.
Protesters had seized the building on the Manhattan campus of Columbia University on April 30 as demonstrations against the war in Gaza erupted on some U.S. college campuses and as tensions at Columbia intensified over mass suspensions.
Dozens were arrested the next day when police with riot helmets cleared the damaged and barricaded building.
Those arrested included at least 14 Columbia undergraduates, nine graduate students, two employees and six students from affiliated schools, a Columbia spokesperson previously said. At least 13 of them had no affiliation with Columbia, the school said.
As the hearings began, police confiscated what appeared to be a protest sign found under one of the seats.
When a prosecutor told the court that Carlson was accused of burning an Israeli flag, some of the defendants seated in the room could be heard snickering. A police officer instructed them to be quiet.