Police said 33 people were arrested at George Washington University late Tuesday on charges including assault on an officer and unlawful entry.
The arrests came hours before Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser was scheduled to appear at a House Oversight Committee hearing on the campus protest. After the arrests, Committee Chair James Comer announced that the hearing had been canceled.
"I had a good conversation with Mayor Bowser," Comer said. "I thanked her for finally clearing the trespassers off the GW campus. It was unfortunate the situation at GW forced the Oversight Committee to act; however it was apparent that the D.C. police force was not going to do their job. Therefore, after meeting with GW leadership and touring the encampment, we decided to hold a public hearing to get answers as to why the mayor would not uphold the law. I am pleased that the potential Oversight hearing led to swift action by Mayor Bowser and MPD Chief Smith. We will continue to hold D.C. officials accountable."
The encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters had remained on campus for several weeks, and demonstration organizers complained officers used pepper spray to contain the crowd.
On Sunday, GWU President Ellen Granberg said the university would "tirelessly pursue every avenue available to resolve the situation swiftly and safely." She said the students have a right to express their beliefs and shared some of their concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. She, however, objected to some of the tactics and messages being shared by demonstrators.
"I know that some in our community and others across the country argue that this, too, is simply a peaceful protest – and, at certain times, this has been true," she said on Sunday. "However, when protesters overrun barriers established to protect the community, vandalize a university statue and flag, surround and intimidate GW students with antisemitic images and hateful rhetoric, chase people out of a public yard based on their perceived beliefs, and ignore, degrade, and push GW Police Officers and university maintenance staff, the protest ceases to be peaceful or productive. All of these things have happened at GW in the last five days."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations objected to Granberg's characterization. The group sent a letter on behalf of parents of demonstrators condemning the president's comments.
"We want to first note that we stand in full solidarity with the students who risked their education, careers, and safety in order to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights, oppose the Israeli government's ongoing genocidal war crimes in Gaza, and call on their university to disclose and divest from any financial support for human rights abuses," the letter reads. "These students followed the legacy of young people who used peaceful civil disobedience to protest segregation, the Vietnam War, and apartheid, and we applaud their courage."
The letter called on the police to release those arrested and drop the charges.
