School officials there braced for an expected large protest Wednesday on the main lawn where demonstrations resulted in more than 100 arrests over the past week.

Barricades remained in place in front of the administration tower building and there was a small police presence and barricades near the main fountain. That didn’t stop groups of students from lining up to pop champagne corks and wade into the water for photos celebrating their upcoming graduation.

Officials at City College requested the help of New York police, noting in a letter that protestors had set up tents and raised a flag on a flagpole without permission.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised police officers who pulled down the Palestinian flag demonstrators had hoisted. An officer balled up that flag and threw it to the ground. Other officers then raised an American flag.

“You don’t take over our buildings and put another flag up,” Adams said. “Blame me for being proud to be an American.”

Demonstrators at the Ivy League school said Tuesday they would close the encampment in exchange for administrators taking a vote to consider divestment from Israel-linked companies in October.

The encampment began last week and on Monday, school President Christina H. Paxson offered protest leaders the chance to meet with officials to discuss their arguments for divestment in exchange for ending their encampment. The compromise appeared to mark the first time a U.S. college has agreed to vote on divestment in the wake of the protests.

No tents could be seen through fences from outside the campus and a photo from the college’s student newspaper showed the encampment area empty of tents.

At the base of the Hamilton Hall building, which was occupied by protesters the previous day, a few signs of the police action remained, including hand marks on the outside of a dusty window police had opened to get inside.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who was formerly a police captain, insisted that while the people who entered Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall included students, “It was led by individuals who were not affiliated with the university.”

“There is a movement to radicalize young people. And I’m not going to wait until it is done to acknowledge the existence of it,” Adams said.

Police were removing an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Wisconsin’s Madison campus and have taken away several protesters.

Several police officers arrived at the encampment on the campus’ Library Mall around 7 a.m. Wednesday and played a recorded message on a loop saying it was a final warning and that protesters were in violation of university code, WISC-TV reported.

About 20 minutes later, nearly 60 police officers, some with riot shields, arrived and began removing tents and other items, the station reported.

Video from WISC-TV showed police with riot shields pushing against protesters and the protesters pushing back while chanting slogans. The station said that at least 10 protesters were taken away by police with their hands zip-tied by officers.

Police later removed some tents that had remained at the encampment, but about 30 protesters surrounded another tent to prevent officers from reaching it.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in an appearance on on “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday that police had identified organizations and individuals who weren’t university students, but professional agitators.

“Once I became aware of the outside agitators who were part of this operation, as Columbia mentioned in their letter and their request with the New York City Police Department, it was clear we had to take appropriate actions when our intelligence division identified those who were professionals, well trained,” Adams said.

Adams and the NYPD made similar claims before the arrests that the protest had been co-opted by outside agitators, though did not provide specific evidence to back up that contention. While people involved in the Columbia demonstrations acknowledge that some people not part of the college community have participated, they forcefully dispute the idea that outsiders were driving or unduly influencing the protests.

Adams pointed to protesters breaking into Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, saying some of the tactics and methods have been used across the globe.

“And we understood how really dangerous this situation had become,” Adams said, noting they made sure that a minimum amount of force was used to “eradicate the problem” at City University of New York and Columbia.

When there’s an analysis of those arrested, Adams said a substantial number of them won’t be City University of New York or Columbia students.

Adams said he understands the power of protests, but they have to make sure they don’t turn violent. Breaking into Hamilton Hall was not protesting, “that was committing a crime,” he said.

Things were subdued at the campus early Wednesday. Police were moved back and there were no counter-protesters in sight.

At the protesters’ encampment, people would peer out from behind their barricades every so often but it was quiet there too.

House Republicans on Tuesday announced an investigation into the federal funding for universities where students have protested the Israel-Hamas war, broadening a campaign that has placed heavy scrutiny on how presidents at the nation’s most prestigious colleges have dealt with reports of antisemitism on campus.

Several House committees will be tasked with a wide probe that ultimately threatens to withhold federal research grants and other government support to the universities, placing another pressure point on campus administrators who are struggling to manage pro-Palestinian encampments, allegations of discrimination against Jewish students and questions of how they are integrating free speech and campus safety.

The House investigation follows several recent high-profile hearings that precipitated the resignations of presidents at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. And House Republicans promised more scrutiny, saying they were calling on the administrators of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan to testify next month.

▶ Read more about the House investigation.

Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.

But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university. Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “ Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty. At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.

▶ Read more about the student protestors’ demands.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday morning that police had to move in to Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall “for the safety of those children.”

He blamed outside agitators for the building takeover and said “There are people who are harmful and they’re trying to radicalize our children and we cannot ignore this.”

The NYPD’s deputy commissioner for public information, Tarik Sheppard, who appeared with the mayor, held up a heavy chain and said “This is not what students bring to school. This is what we encountered on every door inside Hamilton Hall.”

Sheppard said 40 to 50 people were arrested at Hamilton Hall with no injuries. Adams said they will face charges including burglary, trespassing and criminal mischief, while those who were arrested outside the building will be face less serious charges.

Six people have been arrested and suspensions have been issued to seven students who participated in demonstrations there, the school in New Orleans said in a message to the university community early Wednesday. One more suspension was pending, officials said.

The university was also looking into reports of university employees participating in the demonstration.

“We value free speech and have supported numerous lawful demonstrations throughout this year,” the university said in the statement. “But we remain opposed to trespassing, hate speech, antisemitism and bias against religious or ethnic groups.”

Four buildings on campus would remain closed Wednesday as the demonstration continued, with classes scheduled in those buildings going remote, officials said.

The pro-Palestinian demonstration that paralyzed Columbia University ended in dramatic fashion, with police carrying riot shields bursting into a building that protesters took over the previous night and making dozens of arrests. On the other side of the country, clashes broke out early Wednesday between dueling groups at the University of California, Los Angeles.

New York City officers entered Columbia’s campus late Tuesday after the university requested help, according to a statement released by a spokesperson. A tent encampment on the school’s grounds was cleared, along with Hamilton Hall where a stream of officers used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window.

▶ This is an excerpt from a full story. Continue reading here.