33 people arrested at D.C. campus as police clear pro-Palestinian protest camp

The police used pepper spray to remove a camp of people supporting Palestine at George Washington University. They also arrested many protesters on Wednesday. This happened just as city officials were going to talk to Congress about how they handled the protest.

The hearing by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability was canceled after the crackdown. The chairman and other Republicans were happy with the police action. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that we shouldn’t have to threaten to drag DC’s mayor before Congress in order to keep Jewish students at George Washington University safe.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said she and Police Chief Pamela Smith decided to remove the camp because they received new information about more dangers. “The mayor said that we always consider public safety and act responsibly in response to protests. ”

Smith said the protest was getting more dangerous and less steady. He said that protesters had made weapons and were looking at university buildings to possibly take them over. This was said by Jeffery Carroll, who works for the police department. Bowser and Smith were asked to speak to the panel in the afternoon, but then the hearing was canceled.

Tensions have increased at protests against the Israel-Hamas war at universities in the United States and Europe. Some colleges acted quickly and strictly. Others have accepted the protests. Some people are getting impatient and asking the police to help with problems that are making campus life and safety difficult.

On Tuesday night, the police went to the University of Massachusetts to end a camp that was set up there. A video showed police in Amherst spending hours taking down tents and arresting protesters. The surgery went on until Wednesday morning.

The police arrested around 130 people on Tuesday night because they didn’t listen when they were told to leave.

The police in DC said they broke up the protest at George Washington because it was getting more and more intense. They arrested 33 people, some for attacking a police officer and for entering unlawfully. They admitted to using pepper spray on protesters outside the camp who were trying to get past the police.

George Washington said that if the camp on University Yard keeps going, there might be suspensions. People holding signs that said “Free Palestine” and “Hands off Rafah” walked to the home of the school President Ellen Granberg on Tuesday night.

The school said that they support students’ rights to express themselves freely, but the camp had become illegal and broke many rules.

Since April 18, more than 2,600 people have been arrested at 50 different colleges. This information is based on reports from the Associated Press and statements from the universities and police after a protest against war started at Columbia University in New York.

Police in riot gear removed a tent camp supporting Palestine at the University of Chicago after the school decided the protesters were causing safety issues. Many protesters had come together for eight days, but on Friday the administrators warned them to leave or be removed.

Chicago police officers then took a barrier that was put up to keep protesters away from the main area and moved it closer to the protesters. Some of the protesters were chanting “Up, up with liberation. ” “End the occupation. ” shouted the protesters and police were trying to control the situation by pushing back and forth at the barricade.

“The university is a place where people can share different opinions, but we can’t let one group overpower and disrupt the community for everyone else,” said Paul Alivisatos, the president of University of Chicago.

Other schools are allowing protestors to have gatherings and set up their camps how they want.

The president of Wesleyan University, a school in Connecticut, supports the on-campus protest, which includes a tent camp supporting Palestine, as a way for students to express their political opinions. The camp has more than 100 tents now, which is a lot more than the 20 tents it had a week ago.

“The protesters are bringing attention to the killing of innocent people, which is an important cause,” said university President Michael Roth to the campus community. “We will let them keep doing that, as long as it doesn’t cause problems on campus. ”

The president of the Rhode Island School of Design, Crystal Williams, talked with protesters for over five hours about their requests after students began occupying a building on Monday.

On Tuesday, the school said it will move classes to a different place because the building had posters saying “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live. ”

Some colleges have used different approaches, from trying to make peace to threatening students with punishment, in order to have their graduation ceremonies.

In Amherst, UMass police arrested 109 people and are still deciding on charges for about 25 others. School Chancellor Javier Reyes said he ordered the cleaning because they couldn’t agree to take down the encampment and talk things out.

A week ago, the George Washington encampment had a visit from some Republican members of the House oversight panel. They were upset about the protests and didn’t like that Bowser didn’t send in police.

Bowser said on Monday that the city and police department said no to the university’s request for help. “We didn’t have any violence on the GW campus to stop,” she said at that time.

However, early Wednesday morning, many police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department arrived at the scene, as reported by The GW Hatchet, which is the newspaper for the university’s students.

At least two police officers used pepper spray on protesters. The protesters then made a makeshift medical area at a market near the campus. The event planners quickly went to a store to get water to wash their eyes.