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Columbia on Lockdown After pro-Palestinian Protesters Take Over Building, Hold Janitors Hostage

Published

1 year ago

3 minute read

From Heartland Daily News

Columbia University locked down its campus Tuesday to everyone but essential personnel and students after anti-Israel protesters smashed windows and barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall early in the morning.

A staff member in the building at the time said he was temporarily taken hostage, The Columbia Spectator reports.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, the New York university even barred the media from campus “as a safety measure,” a news update states.

“Access to campus has been limited to students residing in residential buildings on campus and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings, labs, and residential student life,” according to the announcement.

The Spectator reports more:

The [lock down] comes six hours after around three dozen protesters occupied Hamilton Hall, pledging to remain inside the building until the University meets its stated demands, including divestment from Israel, financial transparency, and amnesty for students detained and suspended in the mass arrests on April 18.

Protesters sealed off the building minutes after entry, barricading the doors with wooden tables, chairs, and zip ties. Demonstrators outside moved the metal tables outside Hartley Hall to the front of the doors, securing them shut with ropes and zip ties.

A facilities worker said he was temporarily held hostage but allowed to leave about 10 minutes later, according to the student newspaper. Later, two other janitors said they also were temporarily held hostage, according to Fox News.

Several students also reported being assaulted by protesters trying to enter the building, according to an X video by freelance reporter Jessica Schwalb.

Pro-Palestinian protests have been going on for weeks at Columbia, with some demonstrators establishing a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the lawn.

On Monday, university spokesperson Ben Chang said students began receiving suspension notices after ignoring repeated warnings to leave their encampment by 2 p.m. that day.

“Students who agreed to leave and sign a form committing to abide by University policies will be allowed to complete the semester,” Chang said in a campus update.

Some faculty members, many of them wearing masks, joined the protesters just ahead of the 2 p.m. deadline, locking arms to form a human chain around the encampment, according to videos on X.

As of Tuesday morning, the pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue to occupy the building. The Spectator reports  New York Police Department officers have been at the scene since about 12:45 a.m. but have not entered the building.

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Artificial Intelligence

AI Drone ‘Swarms’ Unleashed On Ukraine Battlefields, Marking New Era Of Warfare

Published on September 2, 2025

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Wallace White

Artificial intelligence-powered drones are making their first appearances on the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine war as warfare creeps closer to full automation.

In bombardments on Russian targets in the past year, Ukrainian drones acting in concert were able to independently determine where to strike without human input.

It’s the first battlefield use of AI “swarm” technology in a real-world environment, a senior Ukrainian official and Swarmer, the company who makes the software, told the Wall Street Journal in a Tuesday report. While drones have increasingly defined modern battlefields, swarms until now had been confined to testing rather than combat.

“You set the target and the drones do the rest,” Swarmer Chief Executive Serhii Kupriienko told the WSJ. “They work together, they adapt.”

So far, the Swarmer technology has been used hundreds of times to target Russia assets, but was first used a year ago to lay mines on the front, the Ukrainian official told the WSJ. The software has been tested with up to 25 drones at once, but is usually utilized with only three.

Kupriienko told the WSJ that he was preparing to test up to 100 drones at once with the linking software.

A common arrangement used on the battlefield includes one reconnaissance drone to scout out the target and two explosive drones delivering the payload on target, the official told the WSJ.

While Western nations such as the U.S., France and the United Kingdom are also pursuing drone swarm technology, they have not deployed swarm technology on the battlefield the way Ukraine has, according to the WSJ. Currently, autonomous weapons are not regulated by any international authority or binding agreement, but ethical concerns around the technology has led many to call for increased regulation of weapons like the Swarmer system.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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conflict

Trump Pentagon Reportedly Blocking Ukraine From Firing Western Missiles Deep Into Russia

Published on August 25, 2025

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Harold Hutchison

The Department of Defense has spent months blocking the Ukrainian military from using American and British-made missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eldridge Colby reportedly designed the procedure to review requests to carry out the long-range strikes with weapons that are either of U.S. origin or that require American intelligence or use components provided by the U.S., according to the WSJ. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly has the final say on whether Ukrainian forces can use the MGM-140 ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) to hit targets in Russia.

The reported blocks on missile strikes coincides with a Trump administration effort to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment further on the matter.

The Biden administration allowed Ukraine to carry out strikes with ATACMS in November, weeks after President Donald Trump won the 2024 election, the New York Times reported. Trump criticized the move during a December interview with Time magazine.

“It’s crazy what’s taking place. It’s crazy,” Trump said. “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done.”

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on Aug. 15 for a summit meeting during which Trump sought to secure a cease-fire in Russia’s war with Ukraine. As Trump greeted Putin, a B-2A Spirit stealth bomber and several fighters carried out a flyover of Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and major European leaders on Aug. 18 to update them on the summit.

In July, Trump reached an agreement with NATO where members of the alliance would purchase weapons, including MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missiles, and donate them to Ukraine.

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