The 11th hour with Stephanie Ruhle starts now. We are covering Breaking News this evening. At Columbia University here in manhattan where protest against the israelhamas war in gaza have been underway for several days, just after 9 00 p. M. Eastern, the new York City Police department breached Hamilton Hall using a truck with a ramp. That happened almost 24 hours after protesters broke into the building and occupied it. The nypd says Hamilton Hall is now cleared, and so is the Tent Encampment on the south lawn of the campus. An nypd spokesperson spoke to nbc news shortly after the officers went in. The buildings were blocked by Soda Machines, plywood, so there were lures the nypd used. We use a Distraction Device that makes a very loud bang. Its a Distraction Device. It makes a loud noise that allowed officers to get enough time to get through the barricades. Columbia university formally requested Law Enforcement help earlier this evening. The weekslong demonstration escalated after negotiations with School Officials broke down. Columbia issued a statement saying the following, quote, the decision to reach out to the nypd was in response to the actions of the protesters, not because they are championing. We have made it clear that the life of campus cannot be endlessly interrupted by protesters who violate the rules and the law. Nbc news correspondent Antonia Hilton who has been covering the protest at columbia covers us now. What is going on there . Youve been there for hours. Reporter it has been a pretty unbelievable scene here although right now what you are seeing behind me is the aftermath. We now know that there have been about 100 arrests, 40 of them in Hamilton Hall which is the building right behind me here, that protesters have been in about 60 of them since 12 30 a. M. Last night and what we know from students is that there is a mix of Student Organizers who have been part of different groups and movements over the last several months but also the nypd saying that there are outside agitators, anarchists, people who have no affiliation with columbia who are leading and part of this movement into Hamilton Hall. We saw at least two buses full of protesters leaving the scene here, and now the nypd is saying that most of this operation is over, but we are still hearing from students, students who are not part of the protest movement, by the way, that they are being barricaded by officers into their own dorm rooms. They sent us photographs. We could see officers right in front of the doors. They made it impossible for students to move around campus even if they were very clearly identified as not being part of any action or protest here. Everyone on all sides of this issue from jewish students who have long felt unsafe on the campus to propalestinian students who felt that their free speech has been maligned by the university to Faculty Members on all sides and of all different kinds of disciplines. There is immense anger right now, this feeling that it really didnt have to escalate to this point. The conversations, negotiations couldve gone better. An example that keeps coming up today is brown university. Brandon had an encampment and now the encampment is over. Its been packed up because the university actually had a dialogue with the students and decided they would bring questions about divestment to a board of governors vote so the university is at least going to look at the claims and concerns of the students involved. That is not to say they necessarily will take the actions the students demand but at least they are recognizing it through a democratic process and that is what people are referencing here is a possibility, an olive branch that couldve been offered. This is now going to be the second time the nypd has entered. Students have watched their friends and classmates get arrested, boarded onto buses. They describe it as something that is incredibly traumatizing. Everyone i talk to says they expect to wake up tomorrow still shaken by all of this, especially since we heard in a letter from the columbia president explaining that they plan to have an nypd presence all the way past graduation, so graduation is may 15th. They want officers here until may 17th. That is not making most of the students i talked to feel safer. Its actually making them feel more on edge and there is more concerned now than ever that this sending moment, what is supposed to be this happy time where people come in from All Over The World to celebrate at columbia and get ready for graduation, that there is no way its going to feel like business as usual, that it is going to feel celebratory for them and a lot of people are in pain and incredibly frustrated right now. But, they are in pain because the police are there but theyre in pain because of the prolonged protest . Which one is it . Its both. For many of the students, especially in the undergraduate body, there is anger about the nypd. Even students were not part of the protest movement, who are not necessarily pro palestinian, described the cytosine nypd enter first on april 18th as traumatizing, as really difficult to see people who they see in class, who they know, who they like, they do activities with getting zip tied and facing court summonses. Thats not something that made them happy and then for jewish students who have said that they felt targeted and that they have dealt with harassment, theyve seen anti semitic signs and people protesting from all over new york coming to columbia because the cameras are here and they could get attention and have their 15 seconds of fame but that is been traumatizing for them, as well. That is the one thing people here can agree on, is this feeling that the administration has failed everyone on all sides, and you hear it from the students. You hear it from faculty and staff, but at some point, the leadership here failed to figure out a way to make everyone feel heard and feel safe, that there shouldve been a middle point because other schools, other communities seem to have been able to find more peaceful ways to get this done and now, heres the second time the nypd has entered. Another hundred or so people are on the way downtown, going to be facing charges and court summonses. Its not making anyone happy. I have yet to meet a Single Person rejoicing about this or who feels fully settled were safe at the moment and that is from different interpretations but that is the one thing people really seem to be able to come in the middle on. Just looking at it, such an upsetting scene to see on a college campus. The students, or these protesters, im not sure if they are all students, had they broken the law . Reporter according to the nypd, the people who entered Hamilton Hall absolutely did. They are Planning Trespassing and potentially other charges, minor felonies, even, so the students who were involved with that could be facing serious legal consequences. We already know from the university that they plan to expel any students who were inside Hamilton Hall and part of the breach last night but we also know there are a possibility of outside actors who would also be facing serious charges but may really have nothing to do with columbia at all and that is unsettling for students on all sides here, hearing that there may be this element on campus of people they dont know or have any familiarity with her access to, that they mightve been co opting in wife what has otherwise been day after day, a fairly peaceful protest. Most of what we have seen in terms of the encampment and the actions they have done there, the students who have built a library, invited faculty to come and give talks, this has been peaceful and there is this feeling even from the pro palestinian students who were advocating for students to still have their voices heard and to continue the protest, there is this feeling now that things have gone too far, who is really responsible for this and how did this campus get out of control. How much has this taken over campus life . Our class is still going on . Reporter no. There were really just virtual options today. Students are literally right now barricaded into their dorm rooms. They cant even walk to go get themselves food. Student reporters trying to access the studio in which they broadcast the radio shows where they meet with each other, they are reporting that they cant even get into spaces that they typically have complete ownership over. That is how locked down things have been. There have night after night been protest on the street here. People of been in public having their voices heard on all sides but tonight, very large public protest that was behind me here was dispersed. An Audio Message from the nypd went out making clear that anyone who stayed near the gate as they got ready to move in was going to be risking arrest, so what they had were hundreds of people on every side pushing up in front of businesses, Residential Homes and apartment buildings, screaming, shame on you. Screaming at the nypd all night and refusing to leave the space. We thought around the corner, another corner of campus, some of the people who are out on The Street Reading part of those who were arrested this evening so those numbers at 100, that is reflective of a much larger sort of chaotic scene on campus. Only about 40 of those people are confirmed to actually be protesters who were in the hall itself. My goodness. Thank you for being there. Im glad you were safe. I want to bring in this conversation, or a tiled Seattle Police chief and senator alexander, former member of obamas task force on the First Century policing. Both are msnbc Law Enforcement analyst and retired atf Special Agent in charge and former Hostage Negotiator jim cavanaugh. Cedric, obviously we cannot see what was happening inside that building. Can you give us an idea of what police were doing . I think from all indication, we probably can do a little deductive reasoning here and make some real good predictions or assumptions that they were wellplanned in terms of their approach. Once they were inside, im quite sure they were looking for those who were involved in the overtaking of that building, a couple of dozen or so and im quite sure they went through each floor of that building, as well, to make sure that the building was secure, so i think we all should be very thankful for the fact that it appears to have been ended tonight without incident, but their entry into that building, and we saw it both from the ground and they went upstairs, as well, through some letter elevation, they appear to have secured that scene safely for everyone and without incident. Chief best, as you look at the video of columbia tonight, what stands out to you about how the nypd is responding . Well, i feel a lot of empathy for everyone involved. This is very reminiscent of the protest post george floyd that we had in 2020. There were several people with tents and a lot of the chaos that went on there. You want to protect everyones First Amendment freespeech. I sent two daughters away to college and i can only imagine what the parents of the students who are in many ways been threatened or feeling unsafe at school, how theyre feeling about their children. No officer, myself included when i was an officer, wants to take young people to jail, but there does has have to come a point where there has to be effective rule of law and it cannot be chaos and pandemonium, so in some instances, while these are not pleasant for anybody, action needs to be taken. As you can see, the officers have been trying to take the students out that they have to arrest and removed from the scene. Jim, i know im asking you to make a best guess, but from a police standpoint, why move in now at 9 00 at night, especially when columbia said it made the decision to make this a Law Enforcement matter early this morning . Well, the nypd has together the forces. They have to make a strategic plan. You saw what they did. They brought out a phalanx of officers. They secured the area around the building in question that was seized by the protesters. They have brought in the Emergency Service unit and their armored vehicle, which has a hydraulic ramp, so they bypass the barricade, the first floor that the protesters had probably barricaded all the entrances down there. The Intelligence Officers knew that they use the bear vehicle with a hydraulic ramp to enter the second floor, but it put a lot of officers in there to bypass those barricades and then make the arrest and work up the floor so the top floor, which was kind of the Control Center of the protesters, and they fought through some barricades there, they describe, and they turned over Soda Machines and couches and so forth and made the arrest. So, then they went out and took down the tent city that was down there in the grassy area, so a very good strategic plan, very methodical, very professional. This is how we want Americas Police to look. This is how we want them to act. We all support freespeech and you know, the students voices were heard. Theyve been on the news for a week or more but breaking into buildings, breaking windows, threatening to burn the buildings down, you know, this is burglary, Breaking And Entering and threats of arson, you know, the police have to get their plan and move. There is no great time to do it. Its not a residence, per se. The people all know theyre coming, so you know, at night, as you know, being a new york resident, its kind of free traffic around that time so it can be a good time rather than clogging up all the streets, so i think the nypd gets an a on this and we did see it, by the way, and closing the other day, the lapd when they brought out their special unit, the lapd did at the usc campus, the same thing. An overwhelming show of officers. They peacefully surrounded, carefully, slowly, the encampment of the officers of the protesters on the quad and one by one, they arrested one at a time and walked them to the police vans. Very slow, did a great job. That was lapd the other day, and this is nypd today, so i think this is a very good example of how we have to do this. The answers of the protesters you know, thats going to go on but as long as the violence and danger is gone for a while, that is what theyre paid to do so i give them a plus. They call them Law Enforcement because it is their job to enforce the law. Cedric, how do they deal with his mix that supposedly there are outside agitators there, and this is a Campus Building meant for Columbia University students . We have seen a number of these stunts in recent years following the death of george floyd and even there in columbia where you have these outside sources who are not affiliated with the city, with the university, and their job oftentimes solely is to continue this type of unrest in those communities. They have to be dealt with specifically and at the point of their arrest, im quite sure they will be identified. Some of them may have histories of doing this. Some of them, there this may be the first time theyre involved in these types of incidents but they are identified and i think what nypd has already indicated, they are certain that there have been individuals from outside the city, outside the University Community there who were involved in keeping this unrest going. All right. Thank you all so much, cedric, carmen, jim. I appreciate you helping us out tonight. Were going to stay on top of this Breaking News at Columbia University but we also want to get to the other big story of the day. When we return, we are breaking down Donald Trumps intense day in the courtroom. The key witness takes the stand is the former president gets in trouble for violating his gag order. Frosted treat with a sweet kick of confidence. Cirkul is the Effortless Energy that gets you in the zone. Cirkul, available at walmart and drinkcirkul. Com. Hi, im chris and i lost 57 pounds on golo. Golo isnt complicated. I dont have to follow a restrictive diet, and i dont have to spend a lot of time making meals. Using golo was truly transformative. It was easy, and inexpensive. Youve got xfinity wifi at home. Take it on the go with Xfinity Mobile. Customers now get exclusive access to wifi speed up to a gig in millions of locations. Plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free. Thats like getting two unlimited lines for Twenty Dollars a month each for a year. 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