Columbia University public safety officers clashed with pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupying part of the main library on campus Wednesday afternoon.

The protesters, wearing masks and kaffiyehs, hung banners in the soaring main room of Butler Library’s second floor, renaming the space “the Basel Al-Araj Popular University,” according to the demonstrators and witnesses at the library.

Columbia University is laying off nearly 180 employees after the Trump administration cut more than $400 million in funding.

Columbia University announced Tuesday it will terminate about 180 researchers as the college negotiates with the Trump administration over $400 million in federal funding that was pulled by President Donald Trump.

Columbia University is laying off nearly 180 staffers in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel $400 million in funding over the Manhattan college’s handling of student protests against the war in Gaza.