Columbia protesters are a no-show after plans for new encampments were revealed

Protesters did not set up new tent encampments or demonstrate against the war in Gaza at Columbia University on Thursday as planned.

Protesters did not set up new tent encampments or demonstrate against the war in Gaza at Columbia University on Thursday as planned.

NBC News reported Wednesday that a group planned to set up tent encampments on the New York City school's main campus Thursday afternoon.

The encampments would have been likely to inflame tension at the Ivy League school, which for weeks has been at the center of a tug-of-war between the federal government and its students.

They would have been the first tent cities at the university since students took over a building last year and since the Trump administration embraced an aggressive approach to target what it describes as a failure to deal with antisemitism on college campuses.

More than 100 protesters met Tuesday at a community center in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood to coordinate tent encampments at Columbia for this week. Organizers, whose identities remain unknown, went to extreme lengths to conceal their plans.