Protests continue at George Washington University after House Republicans spar with demonstrators
WASHINGTON - Protests over the war in Gaza continued at George Washington University in D.C. on Thursday, one day after House Republicans sparred with demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.
The House Oversight Committee sent a small delegation of Republican members to the encampment on school grounds where they criticized the protests and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s refusal to send in the city’s police department to disperse the demonstrators.
It was loud at times, with protesters shouting, "Hands off DC," as Republican members of the committee tried to speak. One lawmaker threatened to withhold federal funding for the school.
READ MORE: Protests at George Washington University continue; House Republicans criticize DC’s response
Bowser on Monday confirmed that the city and the district’s police department had declined the university’s request to intervene.
"We did not have any violence to interrupt on the GW campus," Bowser said, adding that police chief Pamela Smith made the ultimate decision. "This is Washington, D.C., and we are, by design, a place where people come to address the government and their grievances with the government."
On Thursday morning, the Rally Against Campus Antisemitism addressed concerns from Jewish students who say the protests have veered into antisemitism.
READ MORE: George Washington University says no place for ‘hateful language’ amid Israel-Hamas war protests
The pro-Palestinian encampment in the University Yard has grown to about 100 tents. Among their demands, protestors call for the school to cut all financial and academic ties with Israel.
President Joe Biden says demonstrations must remain free of violence. "There’s the right to protest but not to cause chaos," the president said in brief remarks Thursday morning.
Biden’s statement came as officers in Los Angeles cleared out the week-old protest encampment at UCLA, where at least 132 demonstrators were detained in a dramatic overnight raid.
READ MORE: University protests must remain peaceful, Biden says
Campus protests began after Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. During the ensuing war, Israel killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.
The Associated Press contributed to this report