Police in helmets streamed into Columbia University on Wednesday night to remove a group of mask-clad protesters who staged a pro-Palestine demonstration and injured security officers inside the school’s main library.

Videos shared on social media showed the long line of NYPD officers entering the library hours after dozens of protesters pushed their way past campus security.

The group had raced into the building, then hung Palestinian flags and other banners on bookshelves in an ornate reading room, with some writing graffiti on books and writing “Columbia will burn” across framed pictures.

Other videos showed campus security barring another group of protesters from entering the library, with both sides shoving to try and force the other group aside. At least two of the university’s security officers were injured in the struggle. 

Dozens of people were removed by officers with their hands tied behind their backs. Protesters and other supporters, meanwhile, gathered around the metal barriers set up outside the building by police cheering on the detained demonstrators and chanting “Free Palestine.”

The university’s acting president, Claire Shipman, said “Columbia strongly condemns violence on our campus, antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination, some of which we witnessed today”.