Columbia library protesters sue university over arrests, suspensions

Three former Columbia University students—Nisreen Khokhar, Jessie Rubin, and Courtland Buchanan—sued the university on September 18, alleging unlawful confinement and assault by security officers during their May 7, 2025, anti-Israel protest at Butler Library. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims security "kettled, confined and repeatedly and violently assaulted plaintiffs and hundreds of other students" before their arrests. The plaintiffs, who later pleaded guilty to administrative disorderly conduct and received two-year suspensions, also allege that federal pressure from the Trump administration on campus antisemitism transformed Columbia's actions into government conduct. Mark Goldfeder of the National Jewish Advocacy Center countered that the library takeover disrupted students studying for finals, involved masked demonstrators, and resulted in two safety officers being injured. He noted that "Anyone who swiped an ID walked right out, 17 students did exactly that, and the plaintiffs who refused ended up pleading guilty." Brooke Goldstein of the Lawfare Project called the lawsuit "yet another brazen attempt by activists who broke the law at Columbia University to portray themselves as victims." Columbia stated that protesters were repeatedly asked for identification and to leave, and the university "cannot tolerate such disruptions to our academic activities."