Anti-Israeli protestors who stormed Columbia University’s library shouting “free Palestine” on Wednesday started singing a different tune when police officers showed up and arrested them.
And now, the masked agitators are in jeopardy of being booted out of the country. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, those identified in Wednesday’s protest will have their visa status reviewed and revoked if they’re in the U.S. on a student visa.
More than 100 masked anti-Israel agitators invaded the Butler Library at Columbia University in New York City, as students prepared for finals Wednesday afternoon, Fox News reports.
As the unruly mob pushed past campus security, college officials called the New York Police Department. According to NYPD sources, more than 80 people, all students at the university, have been arrested. A source also said the NYPD needed to make the arrests so the suspects could be identified.
Rubio posted on X on Wednesday that his agency was “reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library. Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.”
We are reviewing the visa status of the trespassers and vandals who took over Columbia University’s library.
Pro-Hamas thugs are no longer welcome in our great nation.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 8, 2025
Several lawmakers weighed in, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, who appeared on Fox’s The Faulkner Focus Thursday and posted a clip on X:
“WATCH: The Columbia riots were not protests. These are criminal acts. This is violence. This is rioting. This is disruption, destruction of property, and we’ve seen many of these individuals are on foreign visas. I fully support revoking those foreign visas and deporting them.”
U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., chair of the House GOP, said there doesn’t need to be an investigation into universities where anti-Israel protests have sprung up. They need to put a stop to it.
“We know what the problem is,” she said in the Fox News report. “They have laws and they don’t follow them. Columbia is a prime example of what happens when there are no consequences to one’s actions.”
WATCH: The Columbia riots were not protests. These are criminal acts. This is violence. This is rioting. This is disruption, destruction of property, and we've seen many of these individuals are on foreign visas. I fully support revoking those foreign visas and deporting them. pic.twitter.com/V8sLfwoYCX
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) May 8, 2025
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, wrote in a statement to Columbia Spectator through a spokesperson.
“Once again, Columbia has failed to protect students from antisemitic agitators running wild,” Walberg wrote. “Students should be able to study peacefully in the library of a school they pay tens of thousands of dollars to attend; instead, the school enables antisemites who antagonize students and make Jews on campus feel unsafe.”
Responding officers on Wednesday told masked protesters they were not allowed to leave the library until they showed their ID cards.
Claire Shipman, Columbia University’s acting president, said in a statement on Wednesday that the school asked the New York Police Department to help “secure” the building and that two university police officers were injured.
Shipman called the actions “outrageous.” Protestors also attempted to force their way into Reading Room 301 and were repeatedly asked for identification and to leave.
“We have been clear from the outset about applying our protocols and advising participants of the potential consequences of not complying,” Shipman sad. “Requesting the presence of the NYPD is not the outcome we wanted, but it was absolutely necessary to secure the safety of our community.”
Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were also called in to help verify the identity and immigration status of those arrested, according to reports.
The State Department added: “Foreign university students in America have been put on notice: if you break the law or support terrorism in our country, we will revoke your visa. This administration will not tolerate noncitizens causing mayhem on our college campuses.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams said the city stands with Jewish New Yorkers, particularly those who attend Columbia. He further urged the parents of the protesters to “make clear that breaking the law is wrong and they should exit the building immediately,” according to the Fox News report.
Wednesday’s uprising was reportedly in support of Mahmoud Khalil, the accused ringleader of pro-Palestinian protests at the elite Ivy League institution who was arrested in March.
Non-protesting students told Fox News that they were forced to stop studying for finals and leave the library. The protesters climbed on desks and chanted “Free Palestine” and a called for a “global intifada,” while demanding the Ivy League school divest from Israel.
According to flyers, protesters have renamed the Butler Library “Basel Al-Araj Popular University,” as well as the liberation zone. The also defaced the library with Pro-Hamas graffiti and stickers. Columbia students also said they are worried an encampment could be set up.
Columbia has become a breeding ground for anti-Israeli protestors and reports of antisemitism on campus. The students are protesting Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that left more than 1,200 people dead.
University officials have said that the disruptions “will not be tolerated.” Last month, Columbia warned that it would tear down any encampments and potentially arrest agitators if they set up encampments on campus again this year.
Columbia officials reportedly became aware of “secretive plans” to repeat last year’s protest at the university, Fox News reports. Those protests culminated in students taking control of Hamilton Hall and clashing with police in riot gear, resulting in the arrest of more than 200 people.
In response to the ongoing protests, the Trump administration has canceled $400 million in federal grants over the school’s “failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment.”
That prompted Columbia to lay off nearly 180 staffers this week, many of whom were involved in the administration’s terminated grants.
