Cal Poly Humboldt is located along the coast in northern California in an area famous for redwood trees. Though not as prestigious as many of the schools making news this month, Humboldt became the first campus where student protesters occupied a building. It happened last Monday, April 22. They renamed it "Intifada Hall" and proceeded to vandalize everything inside.

When university administrators across the nation worry about the potential fallout from campus protests, they may have Siemens Hall in mind.

The building at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, includes the campus president’s office and has been occupied for a week by pro-Palestinian protesters who barricaded themselves inside and fought off an early attempt by the police to remove them. Protesters have since tagged walls and renamed it “Intifada Hall” by ripping off most of the signage on the brick exterior.

Inside, they painted graffiti messages like “Time 2 Free Gaza,” “Pigs Not Allowed,” and “Land Back,” according to a video posted by the local news site Redheaded Blackbelt. They occupied and defaced the office of the president, Tom Jackson Jr., spraying “Blood On Your Hands” across one framed wall hanging and “I Will Live Free or Die Trying” on his door.

I can't embed that video clip linked above but it's worth a look as you'll see the protesters did significant damage to the building, spray painting everything with slogans. A couple days later police came to campus and made an effort to remove the protesters. But as you can see, it didn't go well.

After that incident, the protesters fortified their position in anticipation of another confrontation with police.

Over the weekend, as the likelihood of a police incursion increased, protesters beefed up the barricades that blocked off their encampment with chain-link fences, rows of chairs and large sheets of glass.

That confrontation finally arrived last night into this morning. Police warned students to clear the campus.

Of course they refused.

Humboldt Cal Poly students remain on campus after police blast dispersal warning over loudspeakers. Surrounded by riot cops, the students stand in power. “THIS is for Gaza. THIS is worth the risk” - student protestor 🔻 pic.twitter.com/fNVaUTnoXC

— Jersey Noah 🔻 (@JerseyNoahx) April 30, 2024

They continued to chant "from the river to the sea" and to dance.

But at about 3 am, police showed up in riot gear and arrested 25 students who were occupying two different buildings.

Police officers arrested 25 protesters early Tuesday and ended the occupation of an administration building that forced a campus shutdown at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

The university said in a statement that the 25 individuals faced a range of charges, including unlawful assembly, vandalism, conspiracy and assault of police officers, among other charges.

“What was occurring was not free expression or a protest,” the university said. “It was criminal activity, and there were serious concerns it would spread even further on campus.”

The campus will remain closed through the end of the semester, which is May 10. Graduation is scheduled for May 11.

It seems possible that the students at Columbia were watching the escalation that happened at Cal Poly Humboldt and are now trying to imitate it. Maybe President Shafik should do the same and imitate the response of the Humboldt administration.

The lesson here is that the only way to clear an occupation like this is with overwhelming force. That doesn't mean police pointing guns at students, it just means that you can't have four or five officers show up to deal with dozens of rowdy students who are prepared to fight back. You need to send in enough officers that they can control the situation quickly and arrest the people who need to be removed from campus. And then you need to a) expel those students and b) bring actual charges against them to discourage a repeat.