“I think we also saw this different sensibility about how to clear protests,” Straub said of the police response to campus demonstrations. In some cases, officers couldn’t distinguish lawful protesters from those who were being disruptive or causing violence, he added. The agreement mandated the NYPD to “change how it deploys officers to public demonstrations,” to better allow the public to exercise their First Amendment rights. NYPD officers in riot gear break into a building at Columbia University, where pro-Palestinian students were barricaded, on April 30. Officers were seen breaking down plywood barriers outside the entrenched encampment where protesters had barricaded themselves inside, as flash-bang explosives exploded overhead.

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Persons: George Floyd, ”, Chuck Wexler, Emily Byrski, Joe Biden, ” Wexler, Frank Straub, ” Straub, PERF, Letitia James, James, Kena Betancur, Eric Adams, Kaz Daughtry, “, Spencer Fomby, Fomby, Straub, it’s, ” Fomby, Ryan Sun, ” CNN’s Julia Jones, Maria Sole, Artemis Moshtaghian Organizations: CNN, Police, Research, “ Police, Palestinian, Getty, Columbia University, New York Police Department, University of Arizona, UCLA, Israel, National Guard, Sound Schools, Center for, Police Foundation, ” Police, NYPD, New York, City College, Hampton Hall, Columbia, Hamilton, National Tactical Officers Association, ”, AP Locations: Gaza, Israel, AFP, California, Columbia, New York City, Hampton, Arizona, Los Angeles