The daughter of actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard is one of the people arrested in the latest Columbia protests, marking the latest developments in anti-war demonstrations, which also led to temporary suspensions for student journalists.
On Friday, the New York Post reported that 18-year-old Colombian freshman Ramona Sarsgaard was arrested during a campus protest Wednesday in which students protested against Israel’s deadly war in Gaza.
The store reported that Sarsgaard received a ticket to the desktop look for a crime trespass and quoted people familiar with the matter. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the position report.
After Sarsgaard was arrested along with dozens of other people, anti-war student activists occupied part of Columbia’s main Butler Library building for hours to show the unity of Palestine liberation.
Students renamed the space at Basel al-Araj, where students hung a sign that read “The Strike of Gaza” while others distributed pamphlets calling on the university to divest funds and businesses that participated in the Israeli war there. Videos posted on social media showed that the students also locked their weapons and recited scriptures: “We have nothing but chains!”
In response, university officials called police, resulting in the forcibly arrested many students. "The destruction of our academic activities will not be tolerated and violates our rules and policies; this is especially unacceptable when our students study and prepare for final exams," Claire Shipman, acting president of the university, said in a statement Wednesday.
Meanwhile, another statement from student activists on social media said: "We are facing one of the largest military police forces in the world. Officials representing public safety have choked us and beat us, but we have not wavered … We will not be useless intellectuals. Palestine is our compass, and in the face of violent repression, we stand strong."
After the protests, Columbia University and its sister school Barnard College sent a temporary suspension to four student journalists who reported demonstrations to Columbia audiences and WKCR at the library. Colombian audience reports that students identify themselves as public safety officials.
Students received an email notification Thursday afternoon for temporary suspensions from rules administrators Gregory Wawro and Barnard Dean Leslie Grinage, the media reported. In an email to a student reporter, Warrow said the student may have "attend a destructive protest at the 301 Butler Library."
Grinage wrote to three other student journalists saying, "Their alleged actions at the Butler Library pose an ongoing threat to normal operations in Barnard and Colombia."
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Columbia audience reported that Columbia University temporarily suspended a student journalist about five hours after its initial notice. Barnard College canceled the suspension of three other student journalists at about 9 a.m. Friday.
As Israel continues to work on the deadly attacks in Gaza, the Trump administration’s crackdown on student protests and freedom of speech is the latest wave at Columbia University.
Federal officials have detained many students in recent months for their anti-war activism, including Columbia University student and green card holder Mohsen Mahdawi, who was recently released. Others in custody include Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who is still in custody in immigration detention centers in Louisiana.