CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man who has served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas was granted parole Thursday.
James Parker was 16 when he was part of a conspiracy with his best friend that resulted in the deaths of Half and Susanne Zantop in Hanover, New Hampshire. Now just shy of 40, he appeared before the state parole board, years after pleading guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder and serving nearly the minimum term of his 25-years-to-life sentence.
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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man who has served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas was granted parole Thursday.
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2001 file photo, James Parker is brought into court in Haverhill, N.H. where he faces charges in connection with the stabbing deaths of two Dartmouth College professors. Parker, who has served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas was granted parole Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)
James Parker holds his hands while addressing the parole board during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker departs following his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker listens to the parole boards decision during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker arrives for his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker arrives for his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker listens to the parole board decision during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker waits as the parole board deliberates during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker listens to the parole boards decision during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
He could be released as early as May.
“I think it's unimaginably horrible,” Parker said during the parole hearing when asked by a board member what he thought of what he did. “ I know there's not an amount of time or things that I can do to change it, or alleviate any pain that I've caused.”
When asked what he had to say to family and friends of the victims, he said, “I'm just deeply sorry."
His lawyer and Department of Corrections staff said he has taken many steps through the years to rehabilitate himself and make life better for fellow inmates, and parole board member Ronald Bessette noted he had a “stellar” disciplinary record and has worked with nonprofit groups on art projects.
Parker earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in prison and created paintings that are displayed in the building. He’s been a part of theatrical, musical and sports activities and has helped develop inmate education guides. He has lived in transitional housing, usually the final placement for a resident prior to their release.
Parker sought a sentence reduction in 2018. Under the law, he was eligible to do so because he had served two-thirds of his term, but he withdrew the petition in 2019 after the Zantops’ two daughters objected.
Parker and then-17-year-old Robert Tulloch, bored with their lives in nearby Chelsea, Vermont, wanted to move to Australia and estimated they needed $10,000 for the trip. They eventually decided they would knock on homeowners’ doors under the pretext of conducting a survey on environmental issues, then tie up their victims and steal their credit cards and ATM information. They planned to make their captives provide the pin numbers before killing them.
Parker, who cooperated with prosecutors and agreed to testify against Tulloch, said they picked the Zantop house because it looked expensive and it was surrounded by trees. Half Zantop let them in on Jan. 27, 2001. Parker told police the interview lasted at least 10 minutes When Half Zantop pulled out his wallet, Tulloch stabbed him, then directed Parker to attack Susanne Zantop. Tulloch also stabbed her.
“When his wife came in, I restrained her, and then,” Parker said Thursday in a low voice, pausing. “I cut her throat. She fell to the floor.”
“Why did you do that?” Bessette asked.
Parker shook his head. “It's just so hard. I've gone over and over it and just finding an explanation for that is just, I just don't know how I could do that.”
“Put yourself back to 2001,” Bessette said.
Parker said “We were attempting to get money to go overseas and live some sort of life of adventure,” admitting he and Tulloch planned to rob and kill people.
They fled with Half Zantop’s wallet, which contained about $340 and a list of numbers, but then realized they had left sheaths to their knives at the house. They attempted to go back but saw a police officer was in the driveway. Fingerprints on a knife sheath and a bloody boot print linked them to the crime, but after being questioned by police, they fled and hitchhiked west. They were arrested at an Indiana truck stop weeks later.
Tulloch, now 40, had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. He got the mandatory sentence of life without parole. He is scheduled for a resentencing hearing in June. The U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in 2012 that it is unconstitutional to sentence juvenile offenders to mandatory life imprisonment without parole, and the state Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that Tulloch and four other men who received such sentences for murders they committed as teenagers should be re-sentenced.
Bessette asked Parker how he could tell the community they “don't have to lock our doors” and that he does not pose a threat.
“I'm going to continue living my life the way I lived it in the prison and during this transition,” Parker said. “It's become very important to me to stay connected to family and friends. I look to them for support and advice all the time. And I'll just keep being the man I've been trying to become — trying to become a better man than when I was that kid."
Under his parole conditions, Parker cannot have contact with the Zantop family and he will continue to engage in mental health treatment.
Susanne Zantop, 55 and Half Zantop, 62, were born in Germany. She was head of Dartmouth’s German studies department. He taught Earth sciences. Respected in their fields, the professors were beloved by colleagues and students, many of whom had an open invitation to their home a few miles from the Dartmouth campus.
There were nine people described as family and supporters of Parker's at the parole hearing. They did not speak and one woman cried after the board made their decision.
“This is a hard one to make a statement about, especially because I can’t speak for everyone affected by what happened,” Veronika Zantop, one of the Zantops’ two daughters, said in an email to The Associated Press. "For me — I miss my parents and am deeply sad for everything they — and we — have missed out on. I miss my father’s sense of humor and kindness and my mother’s sharp wit and tenacity in all things. Among so many other things. I am deeply grateful for all of the support we have received.
“I wish James Parker and his family the best and hope that they can heal.”
FILE - James Parker sheds tears Thursday April 4, 2002 during his sentencing hearing in Grafton County Superior Court in Haverhill, N.H. Parker, who has served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas was granted parole Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Raj Chawla/The Burlington Free Press via AP, Pool)
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2001 file photo, James Parker is brought into court in Haverhill, N.H. where he faces charges in connection with the stabbing deaths of two Dartmouth College professors. Parker, who has served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas was granted parole Thursday, April 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)
James Parker holds his hands while addressing the parole board during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker departs following his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker listens to the parole boards decision during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker arrives for his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker arrives for his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker listens to the parole board decision during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker, who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker waits as the parole board deliberates during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
James Parker listens to the parole boards decision during his parole hearing, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Concord, N.H. Parker who served more than half of his life in prison for his role in the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors as part of a plan to rob and kill people before fleeing overseas has been granted parole. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dueling groups of protesters clashed overnight at the University of California, Los Angeles, shoving, kicking and beating each other with sticks after pro-Israel demonstrators tried to pull down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment. Hours earlier, police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University, breaking up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school.
After a couple of hours of scuffles between demonstrators at UCLA, police wearing helmets and face shields slowly separated the groups and quelled the violence. The scene was calm as day broke.
UCLA canceled classes Wednesday and urged people to avoid the area where the fighting broke out. The school's library won't reopen until Monday and Royce Hall, which authorities said was vandalized, is closed through Friday. UCLA stationed law enforcement officers throughout campus.
Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza have spread across campuses nationwide in a student movement unlike any other this century. The ensuing police crackdowns echoed actions decades ago against a much larger protest movement protesting the Vietnam War.
There have been confrontations with law enforcement and more than 1,000 arrests. In rare instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.
The clashes at UCLA erupted as counter-protesters tried to pull down parade barricades, plywood and wooden pallets protecting a tent encampment built by pro-Palestinian protesters. Video showed fireworks exploding over and in the encampment.
People threw chairs and other objects. A group piled on one person who lay on the ground, kicking and beating them with sticks until others rescued them from the scrum.
People outside the encampment, one draped in an Israeli flag, played recordings of a variety of sounds, including a baby crying and sirens.
Authorities have not detailed injuries.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the violence “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable” in a social media post and said city police were on the scene. California Highway Patrol officers also appeared to join. The university said it requested help.
The university tightened security Tuesday after officials reported “physical altercations.”
Late Tuesday, New York City police officers entered Columbia's campus after the university requested help. They cleared a tent encampment, along with Hamilton Hall where a stream of officers used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window. Protesters had seized the Ivy League school building about 20 hours earlier.
“After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice,” the school said in a statement.
A few dozen protesters at Columbia were arrested after shrugging off an earlier ultimatum to abandon the encampment Monday or face suspension, inspiring demonstrations on campuses elsewhere.
Fabien Lugo, a first-year accounting student who said he was not involved in the protests, said he opposed the university’s decision to call in police.
“This is too intense,” he said. “It feels like more of an escalation than a de-escalation.”
Blocks away from Columbia, at The City College of New York, demonstrators were in a standoff with police outside the public college’s main gate. Video posted on social media by reporters late Tuesday showed officers forcing some people to the ground and shoving others as they cleared the street and sidewalks.
After police arrived, officers lowered a Palestinian flag from the City College flagpole and tossed it to the ground before raising an American flag.
Brown University, another Ivy League school, reached an agreement Tuesday with protesters on its Rhode Island campus. Demonstrators said they would close their encampment if administrators consider divestment from Israel in October — apparently the first time a U.S. college has agreed to protester demands to vote on divestment.
Meanwhile, at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, police in riot gear closed in on an encampment late Tuesday and arrested about 20 people for trespassing. University officials had warned that students would face criminal charges if they did not disperse.
First-year student Brayden Lang watched from the sidelines. “I still know very little about this conflict,” he said. “But the deaths of thousands is something I cannot stand for.”
Police also cleared an encampment Wednesday morning at Tulane University in New Orleans and took down all but one tent at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where police with shields shoved protesters, resulting in a scrum and at least a dozen arrests. Four officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, according to University of Wisconsin police spokesperson Marc Lovicott.
California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, was tallying damage after police on Tuesday cleared protesters from two halls that they had occupied since early last week. Of those arrested, 13 are students, one is a faculty member and 18 are not students, the university said in a statement.
The nationwide campus protests began at Columbia in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.
As cease-fire negotiations appeared to gain steam, it wasn’t clear whether those talks would lead to an easing of protests.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
Columbia's police action happened on the 56th anniversary of a similar move to quash the occupation of Hamilton Hall by students protesting racism and the Vietnam War.
The police department had said officers wouldn't enter without the college administration’s request or an imminent emergency. Now, law enforcement will be there through May 17, when the university's commencement events are scheduled to end.
In a letter to senior police officials, Columbia President Nemat Shafik, who uses the first name Minouche, said the administration asked officers to remove protesters from the occupied building and a tent encampment “with the utmost regret.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, insisted that while students were among those who entered Hamilton Hall, “It was led by individuals who were not affiliated with the university.”
Adams provided no evidence to back up this contention, saying revealing those details would be “too sensitive” to an ongoing law enforcement investigation.
Rebecca U. Weiner, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, said some of the protesters were “known” to the department to have participated in past protests.
The police department’s deputy commissioner for public information, Tarik Sheppard, said 40 to 50 people were arrested at Hamilton Hall and that there were no injuries. Adams said nearly 300 people were arrested at Columbia University and City College in police crackdowns.
Protesters first set up a tent encampment at Columbia almost two weeks ago. The school sent in police to clear the tents the following day, arresting more than 100 people, only for the students to return.
Negotiations between the protesters and the college came to a standstill in recent days, and the school set a deadline for the activists to abandon the tent encampment Monday afternoon or be suspended.
Instead, protesters took over Hamilton Hall early Tuesday, carrying in furniture and metal barricades.
Offenhartz and Frederick reported from New York. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including Cedar Attanasio, Jonathan Mattise, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews, Jim Vertuno, Hannah Schoenbaum, Sarah Brumfield, Christopher Weber, Carolyn Thompson, Dave Collins, Makiya Seminera, Philip Marcelo, Corey Williams, Felicia Fonseca and Kathy McCormack.
New York Police escort protesters onto a bus after making arrests during a standoff between police and demonstrators outside the City College of New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York. Police have swept through other campuses across the U.S. over the last two weeks, leading to confrontations and more than 1,000 arrests nationwide. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
New York Police escort protesters onto a bus after making arrests during a standoff between police and demonstrators outside the City College of New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York. Police have swept through other campuses across the U.S. over the last two weeks, leading to confrontations and more than 1,000 arrests nationwide. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
New York Police escort protesters onto a bus after making arrests during a standoff between police and demonstrators outside the City College of New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York. Police have swept through other campuses across the U.S. over the last two weeks, leading to confrontations and more than 1,000 arrests nationwide. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Tucson Police clear pro-Palestinian protesters from Park Avenue near the University of Arizona campus, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters link arms as police clear an encampment from the University of Arizona campus, early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
A thrown water bottle glances off a law enforcement officer outside an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded on the University of Arizona campus, early Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
Tucson Police take a protester into custody on Park Avenue as law enforcement personnel from several area agencies clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Arizona campus, early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
A protestor is taken into custody as law enforcement clears an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Arizona campus, early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
Pro Palestinian students lock arms, sing and chant as they braced for New York Police Department officers to raid campus after Columbia University President Minouche Shafik called on the NYPD to dismantle encampments and remove individuals from Hamilton Hall, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. (Seyma Bayram via AP)
Pro Palestinian students lock arms, sing and chant as they braced for New York Police Department officers to raid campus after Columbia University President Minouche Shafik called on the NYPD to dismantle encampments and remove individuals from Hamilton Hall, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. (Seyma Bayram via AP)
Pro-Palestine student activists face off with New York Police Department officers during a raid on Columbia University's campus at the request of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik on Tuesday evening, April 30, 2024 in New York. NYPD officers, including those from the police department's Strategic Response Group, arrested approximately 100 people as they dismantled encampments and removed individuals occupying Hamilton Hall. (Seyma Bayram via AP)
Demonstrators clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at an encampment at UCLA late Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA late Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Police move in at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Demonstrators clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A person is carried away as counter-demonstrators confront a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. Violence erupted as protests sweep across college campuses in America. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Officers with the New York Police Department arrest Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Officers with the New York Police Department arrest pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
A bicyclist cycles past a tent encampment in White Plaza in support of Palestinians, at Stanford University, in Stanford, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Officers with the New York Police Department raid the encampment by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
A group of prospective students walk by a tent encampment in White Plaza in support of Palestinians during a campus tour at Stanford University, in Stanford, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024.(Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A New York Police bus filled with arrested protesters makes its way down Amsterdam Avenue, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Pedestrians walk by fluttering flags at a tent encampment in White Plaza in support of Palestinians, at Stanford University, in Stanford, Calif., Tuesday, April 30, 2024.(Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
New York Police officers escort a protester outside the Columbia University campus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
A person engages with a New York City police official as he, along with other officers, move to clear a main gate at Columbia University in New York on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, as authorities cleared parts of the campus of protesters after a building was taken over by activists earlier in the day. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
As light rain falls, New York City police officers take people into custody near the Columbia University campus in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building taken over by protesters earlier in the day was cleared, along with a tent encampment. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
New York City police officers take people into custody near the Columbia University campus in New York Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building taken over by protesters earlier in the day was cleared, along with a tent encampment. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Using a tactical vehicle, New York City police enter an upper floor of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus in New York Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building was taken over by protesters earlier Tuesday. Hundreds of police officers swept into Columbia University on Tuesday night to end a pro-Palestinian occupation of an administration building and sweep away a protest encampment, acting after the school’s president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus.(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
New York City police enter an upper floor of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus using a tactical vehicle, in New York Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building was taken over by protesters earlier Tuesday. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Using a tactical vehicle, New York City police enter an upper floor of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus in New York Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building was taken over by protesters earlier Tuesday. Hundreds of police officers swept into Columbia University on Tuesday night to end a pro-Palestinian occupation of an administration building and sweep away a protest encampment, acting after the school’s president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Pro-Palestinian protester Mercedes, a student at Southwestern University, raises a fist as she walks out of the Travis County Jail Tuesday April 30, 2024, a day after getting arrested at a protest at the University of Texas, in Austin, Texas. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Students watch from their residence hall windows as members of the New York Police Department strategic response team move towards an entrance to Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate on the campus of DePaul University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Pro-Palestinian protesters settled into a portico of Millar Library on the Portland State University campus over the weekend, shown on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Permission was originally granted by President Ann Cudd, but the PSU president reversed course on Monday and saying it needs to come down because of health and safety hazards. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)
Pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Portland State University's library, advocating for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Dave Killen/The Oregonian via AP)
A demonstrator pumps his fist as he hangs a sign from a window in Hamilton Hall inside the Columbia University campus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at Portland State University in support of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)
Student protesters camp near the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. Early Tuesday, dozens of protesters took over Hamilton Hall, locking arms and carrying furniture and metal barricades to the building. Columbia responded by restricting access to campus. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)
Members of the New York Police Department strategic response team escort protesters from Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Members of the New York Police Department strategic response team load arrested protesters from Columbia University onto a bus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Students with the Gaza solidarity encampment block the entrance of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after taking over it on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in New York. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine called for mobilization close to midnight. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Members of the New York Police Department strategic response team load arrested protesters from Columbia University onto a bus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Members of the New York Police Department strategic response team load arrested protesters from Columbia University onto a bus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
A police bus loaded with protesters arrested at Columbia University departs an entrance to the campus on 114th Street, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Police stand in front of a University of Utah sign as they move demonstrators who had gathered to show support for Palestinians off the property at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Monday, April 29, 2024. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP)
A police bus loaded with protesters arrested at Columbia University departs an entrance to the campus on 114th Street, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Members of the New York Police Department strategic response team move towards an entrance to Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. After entering the campus, a contingent of police officers approached Hamilton Hall, the administration building that student protesters began occupying in the morning. (AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Using a tactical vehicle, New York City police enter an upper floor of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus in New York Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building was taken over by protesters earlier Tuesday. Hundreds of police officers swept into Columbia University on Tuesday night to end a pro-Palestinian occupation of an administration building and sweep away a protest encampment, acting after the school’s president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Using a tactical vehicle, New York City police enter an upper floor of Hamilton Hall on the Columbia University campus in New York Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building was taken over by protesters earlier Tuesday. Hundreds of police officers swept into Columbia University on Tuesday night to end a pro-Palestinian occupation of an administration building and sweep away a protest encampment, acting after the school’s president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus.(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
