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Columbia Professor Jack Halberstam is weighing in on the growing tensions on campus ... after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a building at the Ivy League school.

We got the Gender Studies and English prof Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and he defended Monday night's takeover of Hamilton Hall ... as student protesters have occupied buildings in the past -- including Hamilton Hall -- to draw attention to injustices related to South African apartheid and the Vietnam War, for example.

Professor Halberstam also shed light on how the conflict between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters has actually been growing for months ... with the university allegedly doing little to help students on either side.

Pro-Palestine protesters who've been occupying Columbia University for weeks just took their cause to a whole new destructive level ... taking over a campus building in violent fashion.

A massive mob of student demonstrators -- which has been growing by the day -- swarmed Hamilton Hall at the NYC Ivy League college Monday night ... and they ended up breaking in and infiltrating the facility, taking the building by force.

There were multiple chants that could be heard as this was all happening ... most of which had to do with decrying the ongoing conflict in Gaza, with students calling it a genocide.

Los manifestantes pro-Palestina que han estado ocupando la Universidad de Columbia durante semanas han llevado su causa a otro nivel luego de tomarse un edificio del campus de manera violenta.

Una gran multitud de estudiantiles, que ha ido creciendo día a día, estaba en el Hamilton Hall de la universidad de la Ivy League de Nueva York la noche del lunes y terminaron rompiendo e infiltrándose en las instalaciones hasta tomarse el edificio por la fuerza.

Hubo múltiples cánticos mientras todo esto sucedía, que en su mayoría condenaban el conflicto en curso en Gaza, con los estudiantes llamándolo un genocidio.

Kamala Harris sat down with Drew Barrymore to stump for Joe Biden -- and there were some interesting takeaways ... including how she laughs, and a new nickname.

The Veep appeared on "The Drew Barrymore Show" Monday to talk shop on politics and lots of other topics that were suitable for daytime TV -- and they had a lot of chuckles along the way ... which actually ended up becoming a subject of conversation in their chat.

Harris spoke about what it means to be the first female VP in American history -- and she says, even now, she feels she still catches flak for it ... all just because she's a woman.

USC's famed Tommy Trojan has been caught up in the Gaza war, and is worse for wear.

The iconic statue was smack in the middle of another protest on the USC campus, resulting in 90 arrests.

Someone spray-painted, "Say no to genocide" on the base of the statue.

Two heads are better than one -- and, absolutely necessary to ride in the carpool lane -- but ya gotta make sure those heads are flesh and bone ... and not plastic, like this one was.

One driver learned that lesson the hard way in Santa Fe Springs, CA -- a suburb in L.A. County about 12 miles southeast of Downtown L.A. -- when a California Highway Patrol officer pulled them over ... and discovered a dressed-up mannequin in the passenger seat.

CHP Santa Fe Springs posted a pic of the plastic dummy Thursday to Instagram ... and, we gotta hand it to the driver -- it's pretty dang lifelike, especially from a distance.

Governor Kristi Noem's got social media users howling with rage -- 'cause she admitted to shooting and killing her own dog ... something she says had to be done.

South Dakota's political leader tells the harrowing story in her upcoming memoir, "No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward" ... discussing farm life and detailing exactly why she says her young wirehaired pointer had to die.

The Guardian reviewed the book and rehashed this sad chapter. KN owned a 14-month-old pup named Cricket with an untrainable and aggressive personality, and didn't turn out to be the best hunter either. After an attempted hunt, she says she started driving back with Cricket ... only to make a stop at a local family's home, with the dog attacking their chickens.

Rick Caruso's calling USC's decision to nix its graduation ceremony amid a flood of pro-Palestine protests a masterclass in leadership -- something other universities are still scrambling to learn ... so he says.

On "TMZ Live" Friday, Rick -- a member of USC's Board of Trustees -- affirmed students' right to free speech ... but emphasized when expression veers into hate speech and bullying, university administrations must prioritize campus safety above all else.

RC doesn't beat around the bush ... telling us leaders need to show backbone and courage to make tough decisions, even if it means they won't be popular with everyone.

Kim Kardashian volvió a la Casa Blanca para abogar por la reforma a la justicia penal, solo que esta vez se reunió con el equipo de Biden, demostrando que ella es leal a la causa y no a ningún partido político.

La estrella de los realities, que ha utilizado regularmente su plataforma para abogar por esto, se reunió con la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris el jueves en una mesa redonda. Esto, luego de que el Presidente concediera la clemencia a 16 personas previamente condenadas por delitos de drogas no violentos.

Al hablar con la vicepresidenta y algunas de las personas indultadas, dejó claro que su única agenda era abogar por una reforma penitenciaria, no importa quién esté en la oficina, y agradeció a los sujetos recientemente liberados por compartir sus historias y poner foco en el tema.

Kim Kardashian went back to the White House to advocate for criminal justice reform -- only here, it was with Biden's camp ... proving she's loyal to the cause, and not to any party.

The reality star -- who has regularly used her platform to advocate for this -- met with Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday for a roundtable discussion after POTUS granted clemency to 16 people previously convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.

As Kim spoke with the Veep and some of the pardoned individuals, she made it clear her only agenda was to advocate for prison reform, no matter who's in office ... and she thanked the recently released subjects for sharing their stories and putting a spotlight on the issue.

Paris Hilton está poniendo el foco en la cultura de los tabloides de principios de los años 2000, porque está produciendo una nueva docuserie que examina la forma en que las celebridades femeninas fueron tratadas en ese entonces... incluida ella misma.

La productora de la heredera, 11:11 Media, ha adquirido los derechos del libro de Sarah Ditum, "Toxic: Women, Fame, and the Tabloid 2000s" y Paris planea transformar el libro en una docuserie, poniéndose a ella misma como uno de los temas principales.

El libro echa un vistazo más de cerca a las vidas de 9 celebridades que estaban en el centro de atención -incluyendo París, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Kim Kardashian, Chyna y Jennifer Aniston- destacando su complicada dinámica con la fama.

Paris Hilton is putting a spotlight on early '00s tabloid culture, 'cause she's producing a new docuseries examining the way female celebs were treated back then ... including herself.

The heiress' production company, 11:11 Media, has acquired the rights to Sarah Ditum's book, “Toxic: Women, Fame, and the Tabloid 2000s" ... and PH plans to transform the book into an entire docuseries -- with herself as one of the main subjects.

The book takes a closer look at the lives of 9 A-listers who were in the spotlight -- including Paris, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Kim Kardashian, Chyna and Jennifer Aniston -- highlighting their complicated dynamics with fame.

A dolphin that washed ashore in Louisiana was riddled with bullet holes -- and now federal officials are now offering a huge reward for to track down the party responsible.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service announced the dolphin's death Tuesday ... saying the mammal's body washed up on Mae's Beach in Cameron Parish on March 13.

The NOAA says it performed a necropsy -- an animal autopsy -- on the body ... and found multiple bullets lodged in the brain, spinal cord, and heart. A photo of the dead dolphin has been circulating -- although, it doesn't appear to show the bullet holes described.

Jimmie Allen is breaking down in tears, thinking about the day he contemplated suicide after he was accused of sexual assault.

In a new interview with Kathie Lee Gifford, the country singer got emotional while discussing the toll the sexual assault lawsuit took on his mental health ... revealing he reached a dark place at the time.

After his former manager filed a lawsuit, accusing him of rape -- which was dropped last month -- Jimmy says he was concerned for his family's wellbeing. Not only did his label drop him as the allegations surfaced, but he lost several business deals, too ... and he says he was convinced he wouldn't be able to provide for his kids.

La racha de mala suerte de Boeing parece no acabar. Recientemente, la compañía tuvo otro percance y uno de sus aviones tuvo que hacer un aterrizaje de emergencia en Sudáfrica.

El domingo, el Boeing 737 de FlySafair, que venía lleno de pasajeros, tuvo problemas durante el despegue en el aeropuerto internacional OR Tambo de Johannesburgo, cuando se dirigía a Ciudad del Cabo, a unas 870 millas de distancia.

Al menos una rueda funcionó mal mientras el avión comercial daba la vuelta para realizar el aterrizaje de emergencia de vuelta en el aeropuerto OR Tambo.

Boeing's string of bad luck seems never-ending ... the aircraft company recently had another mishap as one of its jets had to make an emergency landing in South Africa.

On Sunday, the crowded FlySafair Boeing 737 ran into trouble during takeoff at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg as it was en route to Cape Town about 870 miles away.

At least one wheel malfunctioned as the commercial plane turned around to make the emergency landing back at OR Tambo Airport.