A bomb threat was reported at Barnard College in New York City on Wednesday following the takeover of the college’s Milstein Center building by pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli protesters.
In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, Robin Levine, Barnard College’s vice president of strategic communications, warned the pro-Palestinian protesters that the college had been notified of a “bomb threat to the building” and urged the protesters to leave the building immediately.
“We have received a bomb threat to the building,” Levine said. “You need to leave now. This is not a joke.”
In response to Levine’s warning, the pro-Palestinian protesters, many of whom were dressed in keffiyehs, accused the college vice president of “lying” and claimed that the bomb threat was a “joke.” Toward the end of the video, the protesters can be heard chanting, “Free, free Palestine.”
In another video, a college official can be heard warning students over a loudspeaker to “immediately evacuate the building” due to the “cause of an alarm” on the building’s third floor.
According to The New York Post, over 50 New York Police Department officers with riot gear were deployed to the Milstein Center and ordered the over 200 pro-Palestinian protesters to exit the building and remain at least 1,000 feet from the building’s courtyard. The outlet noted that as police officials attempted to remove protesters from the area, both Barnard and Columbia student protesters chanted, “NYPD, KKK, they are all the same” and “No justice, no peace.”
The New York Post reported that at least nine protesters were arrested by police officials after refusing to move away from the Barnard College building.
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At 7:50 p.m., the New York Police Department announced, “The bomb threat incident at Barnard College has been investigated and cleared. There is currently no threat to the public. Please continue to avoid the area and expect traffic delays.”
The Post Millennial reported that Wednesday’s bomb threat came after pro-Palestinian protesters held a major protest in the library at the Milstein Center at roughly 1 p.m. as part of a series of protests over the expulsion of three students who were involved in a major protest at Columbia University in 2024.
A video shared on social media shows protesters displaying a doll in the likeness of Barnard College President Laura Rosenbury, while a picture shows a “wanted” poster of Barnard College Dean of Students Leslie Grinage.
According to New York Daily News, Wednesday’s protesters were part of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which is a major coalition of anti-Israeli students. The outlet noted that protesters displayed Palestinian flags and used megaphones to demand, “We want justice, you say how? Un-expel our students now.”
A video from Wednesday’s protest shows protesters marching throughout the Milstein Center as some students played drums while others chanted, “Free, free Palestine.”
