George Washington University: House cancels DC mayor’s statement after campus arrests

Police arrested 33 people at George Washington University (GW) early Wednesday after officers attempted to clear a pro-Palestinian camp on campus.

Washington DC police told the BBC that protesters were arrested for assaulting a police officer and unlawful entry.

University students had been in the camp since April 25th.

House Republicans canceled Mayor Muriel Bowser’s planned statement following the arrests after pressuring officials in Washington DC to end the protests.

The police operation came a week after six Republican members of the House Oversight Committee visited the GW protest camp and called on officers to arrest the protesters involved.

Wednesday’s clearing of the encampment came ahead of a scheduled appearance by Ms. Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith before the House Oversight Committee on the city’s handling of the unrest.

In a statement, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer, announced the appearance was being canceled and said he was “pleased that the potential oversight hearing resulted in quick action from Mayor Bowser.”

According to a report on the arrests by GW Hatchet, the university’s independent student newspaper: “Officers gave protesters their third and final warning to move around 3:30 a.m. local time, telling anyone still in the U-Yard and those on H Street in front of the plaza would be arrested.”

The newspaper reported that some protesters who refused to leave were pepper-sprayed by police.

In a statement, the university said police conducted “an orderly and safe operation to evict protesters from the illegal encampment on GW University Courtyard.”

They added that there were no reports of serious injuries during the arrests.

Despite GW’s efforts to provide an alternative protest site, the encampment previously remained in place.

University officials say they are unsure how many of the protesters are students.

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

Tensions had increased in recent days after police removed a large Palestinian flag that protesters had flown over a campus building. The university called the flag-raising an “aggressive act of lawlessness.”

Metro police told the BBC that there had been a “gradual escalation in the volatility” of the protest and officers had moved in as a result.

“Therefore, MPD, working closely with GW administration and police, took action this morning to disperse protesters from the GW campus and surrounding streets,” the statement continued.

GW said it remains open and operating as usual, but additional security personnel have been stationed in University Yard and the surrounding area.

The court will remain closed until the end of the commencement ceremony on May 19, the university added.

There were violent demonstrations against the war in Gaza at several universities across the country.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack and Israel’s retaliatory attack, students have staged anti-war rallies, sit-ins, fasts and, most recently, camps.

They are demanding that their schools, many of which have large endowments, separate financially from Israel.

Many also want their universities to end academic ties with Israeli institutions.

Previously, President Joe Biden said people had the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos.

But Mr Biden warned on Tuesday that the threat of anti-Semitism is growing in the US, including on college campuses, joining a heated American debate over Jewish security, Zionism, free speech and support for Israel, in the country with the largest Jewish population after Israel.

Addressing a bipartisan audience at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual commemoration, Mr Biden said: “This hatred (against Jews) continues to run deep in the hearts of too many people around the world and requires our continued vigilance and openness,” Biden said .

“Now here we are, not 75 years later, but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting… that Hamas unleashed this terror,” he added.

“I haven’t forgotten, and neither have you. And we won’t forget it.”