Police arrested more than two dozen people at Columbia University Tuesday night after breaching a school building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters, officials said.

City University of New York (CUNY) and police officials said CUNY Public Safety officers and New York City Police Department officers also arrested more than a dozen people both on, and outside of, the City College of New York campus Tuesday night.

Video airing live on NY1 showed officers in riot gear climbing into Columbia's Hamilton Hall through a window using a ladder ascending from a police vehicle.

Subsequent video showed officers loading people onto buses just outside of campus. The NYPD told NY1 officers had made more than two dozen arrests as of 10:40 p.m., but did not provide an exact number.

Dozens of student protesters took over Columbia's Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning, barricading its entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag from a window. The occupation came nearly two weeks after students set up an encampment on the school's lawn calling for the university to divest from Israel.

By late Tuesday evening, NYPD officials told NY1 police had cleared the Columbia encampment, and NY1 crews eventually spotted a much lighter police presence. It wasn't immediately clear how many protesters officers removed from Hamilton Hall after entering the building.

In a statement released Tuesday night, Columbia said the NYPD officers had arrived on campus "at the University's request," adding that the decision had been made "to restore safety and order to our community."

"The leadership team, including the Board of Trustees, met throughout the night and into the early morning, consulting with security experts and law enforcement to determine the best plan to protect our students and the entire Columbia community," the statement said in part. "We made the decision, early in the morning, that this was a law enforcement matter, and that the NYPD were best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response."

The university said it believed the Hamilton Hall occupation had been "led by students not affiliated with the university," echoing city officials' claims that "outside agitators" facilitated the takeover.

In a letter sent to the NYPD on Tuesday, Columbia president Minouche Shafik requested the department's presence on campus "through at least May 17, 2024 to maintain order and ensure encampments are not reestablished."

"The takeover of Hamilton Hall and the continued encampments raise serious safety concerns for the individuals involved and the entire community. The actions of these individuals are unfortunately escalating," Shafik wrote. "These activities have become a magnet for protesters outside our gates which creates significant risk to our campus and disrupts the ability of the University to continue normal operations."

"We trust that you will take care and caution when removing any individual from our campus. The safety and security of our community is our highest priority, especially for our students," Shafik added. "We appreciate your commitment to assist us in a peaceful and respectful manner at this difficult time."

Prior to the occupation, Shafik had said the school had no plans to call the NYPD back onto campus.

The NYPD arrested more than 100 protesters on the campus on April 18 after Shafik authorized the department to clear an encampment they had set up the day before. Protesters rebuilt the encampment following the arrests.

After protesters occupied Hamilton Hall Tuesday, organizers said they planned to remain at the building until the university conceded to three demands: divestment, financial transparency and amnesty.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said students occupying the building “face[d] expulsion.”

Soon after the NYPD moved onto campus Tuesday night, Columbia's faculty released a statement saying they had "attempted for the past two weeks to intervene in the situation, only to be shut out by senior University leadership."

"NYPD presence in our neighborhood endangers our entire community. Armed police entering our campus places students and everyone else on campus at risk," the statement said. "That is why University statutes require consultation with faculty — statutes which appear to have been ignored since April 17, and again tonight."

"We hold University leadership responsible for the disastrous lapses of judgment that have gotten us to this point," the statement added. "The University President, her senior staff, and the Board of Trustees will bear responsibility for any injuries that may occur during any police action on our campus."

At City College, NY1 crews saw several people get arrested by NYPD officers outside the school as officers attempted to bring a crowd under control Tuesday night.

In a statement, a CUNY spokesperson said a large crowd of protesters “breached” the campus of City College — which is part of the CUNY system — and joined protesters at an encampment there after marching from Columbia.

The spokesperson said the students tried break into Shepard Hall before they ultimately broke into the Administration Building at City College, where the spokesperson said they vandalized office equipment and broke glass. CUNY Public Safety ultimately arrested 25 people, according to the spokesperson.

Early Wednesday morning, the spokesperson said school leadership “made the difficult decision to request NYPD assistance” as “the crowd grew in size.” NYPD officers also made arrests, the spokesperson said.

"Students have a right to demonstrate peacefully and exercise their First Amendment rights. Tonight's actions were taken in response to specific and repeated acts of violence and vandalism, not in response to peaceful protest,” the spokesperson said. “CUNY will continue working to keep our community free from violence, intimidation and harassment."

NY1 crews also saw several people get arrested by NYPD officers outside the school as officers attempted to bring a crowd under control.

Officers were seen bringing in barricades to separate the campus and the sidewalk at West 139th Street and Amsterdam Avenue prior to the arrests.

In a statement released Tuesday, City College president Vincent Boudreau said the encampment on campus had been “posing significant difficulties for us.”

“Specifically, this demonstration has been more contentious and violent than anything we’ve seen on campus before,” Boudreau wrote in part. “Given the situation, we are moving all Wednesday classes and work to remote, remaining remote until conditions permit a return to normal business operations. We are also urging all members of our community to stay away from campus.”

Speaking with NY1 outside the campus, CUNY School of Law student Parima Kadikar, who said she was a protest organizer and member of CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine, said Tuesday's police presence was the largest one she had ever seen at the college.

Students set the “peaceful encampment” up on the campus last Thursday, Kadikar said.

"CUNY administrators, they're doing what we've seen universities all over the country, what we've seen city governments all over the countries do, which is hide behind the excuse of safety,” she said. “But if they were really concerned about safety, they would not engage in this type of escalation against a peaceful liberation movement.”

NY1's Victoria Manna, Dan Rivoli and Louis Finley contributed to this report.