Police clear pro-Palestinian tent camp at George Washington University, arrest dozens

A passerby (right) uses a mobile device to record a barrier with posters in front of a pro-Palestinian tent camp on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Students at MIT set up the camp to protest MIT’s failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and cut ties with the Israeli military. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police began clearing a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, arresting dozens of protesters, hours after dozens left the site and marched to President Ellen Granberg’s home.

University officials in Washington, D.C. had warned of possible suspensions for students involved in protest activities at University Yard.

“While the university is committed to protecting students’ rights to free expression, the camp has evolved into an unlawful activity with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations,” the university said in a statement University.

Local media had reported that some protesters had been pepper-sprayed as police prevented them from entering the camp, and community organizers said nearly 30 people had been arrested.

In a statement, the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department said arrests had been made for assault on a police officer and unlawful entry, but a number of arrests were not immediately made. The ministry said it moved to disperse the protesters because “the volatility of the protest gradually escalated.”

On Tuesday evening, demonstrators marched to Granberg’s home with signs reading “Liberate Palestine” and “Hands off Rafah.” The police were called to stop the crowd. There were no arrests.

This comes as Mayor Muriel Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela Smith are set to testify Wednesday afternoon at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on the District of Columbia’s handling of the protest.

On Tuesday, a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago was evacuated after administrators who initially took a permissive stance said the protest had crossed a line and sparked growing security concerns.

University President Paul Alivisatos acknowledged the school’s role as a protector of free speech after officers in riot gear blocked access to the school’s quad, but also took an “enough is enough” stance.

“The university remains a place where dissenting voices have many opportunities to express themselves, but we cannot create an environment in which the expression of some dominates and disrupts the healthy functioning of the community for the rest,” Alivisatos wrote in a message to the University community.

Nearly three weeks after the start of a movement sparked by a protest at Columbia University, tensions have continued to rise in clashes with demonstrators on campuses across the United States – and increasingly in Europe. Some universities immediately cracked down on protests against the Israel-Hamas war. Among those who have tolerated the encampments, some are beginning to lose patience and call the police because of concerns about disruption to campus life, safety and non-student participation.

Since April 18, just over 2,600 people have been arrested at 50 campus locations. The numbers are based on AP reports and statements from universities and law enforcement agencies.

But not all schools take this approach, and some allow protesters to hold rallies and organize their encampments as they see fit.

The president of Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Connecticut, praised the campus demonstration – which included a pro-Palestinian encampment – as an act of political expression. The camp there has grown from about 20 tents a week ago to over 100.

“The demonstrators’ cause is important – they should draw attention to the killing of innocent people,” University President Michael Roth wrote to the campus community on Thursday. “And we will continue to make space for it, as long as that space does not impact campus operations.”

The Rhode Island School of Design, whose students began occupying a building on Monday, affirms students’ rights to free speech and peaceful assembly and supports all members of the community, a spokesman said. The school said President Crystal Williams spent more than five hours with protesters that evening to discuss their demands.

On Tuesday, the school announced that it would be moving classes that were supposed to take place in the building. It was covered with posters reading “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live,” and a dove was drawn in colored chalk on the sidewalk.

Colleges have tried tactics ranging from appeasement to the threat of disciplinary action to quell the protests and clear the way for classes to begin.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the University of Chicago for at least eight days until administrators warned them on Friday to leave the university or face removal. Law enforcement authorities dismantled the camp on Tuesday.

Officers later lifted a barricade that had been erected to keep protesters away from the Quad and moved it toward the demonstrators, some of whom were chanting, “Up, up with the liberation.” Down, down with the occupation!” Police and Protesters pushed back and forth along the barricade as officers tried to restore control.

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Associated Press journalists from around the U.S. and around the world contributed, including Charles Rex Arbogast, Pat Eaton-Robb, Steve LeBlanc, Jeff Amy, Christopher Weber, Mike Corder, Barbara Surk, Rick Callahan, Sarah Brumfield and Pietro de Cristofaro.