Name: Students remain in encampment on GWU’s campus as Israel-Hamas war protests continue nationwide - WTOP News
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Students remain in encampment on GWU’s campus as Israel-Hamas war protests continue nationwide - WTOP News

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Student protesters are still camped out on George Washington University's campus on Friday, as protests over the Israel-Hamas war continue after both Georgetown University and GWU saw hundreds rally the day before.
                                       
    
                                                
                                
                Student protesters are still camped out on George Washington University’s campus Friday as demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war continue one day after both Georgetown University and GWU saw hundreds rally on their campuses.
WTOP reporter Kyle Cooper said the protest has grown from less than 50 protesters that were in the encampment early Friday morning to more than 200 people in the surrounding area by 11 a.m.
Most protesters moved onto the street and surrounding area — taking their bags and tents with them — after university workers put up metal fencing around University Yard.
“I talked to one student who said that some of the students that were inside that area decided to move out of that area instead of risk arrest — they said they had scholarships and things like that so they didn’t want to be arrested,” Cooper said. “But some students have stayed inside that metal fencing.”
GWU alerted students at 7:39 a.m. that there was restricted access to the yard and that Kogan Plaza, the main campus plaza, was also closed. The GW Hatchet, a student newspaper, reported at 8:26 a.m. that only “protesters who are willing to risk arrest” remained in University Yard.
“There are some that are still inside that barrier, some are outside that barrier, they continue to chant,” Cooper observed.
Chanting started up again at approximately 7 a.m. as a large presence of university and D.C. police enclosed the yard. An hour later, chants started focusing on the police presence as well as the Israel-Hamas war.
“D.C. police is on the perimeter, we’ve seen as many as several dozen officers hanging around here, now just a handful again,” Cooper reported. “So we’re not exactly sure if police are intending to move in and ask these students to move out, or move them out by force.”
George Washington officials said in a statement at 10 a.m. that “individuals who remain on University Yard and any who attempt to join them are trespassing on private property and violating university regulations.” The university said it is working with D.C. police to secure the area and will&nbsp;“pursue disciplinary actions against the GW students involved in these unauthorized demonstrations that continue to disrupt university operations.”
The protests have disrupted the law school’s finals, which were set to be held in buildings next to the protest encampment and have been moved to another building due to the noise.
In another statement issued Thursday, officials said the institution does “not permit overnight encampments on university property,” and students must clear out by 7 p.m. The university requested police to get involved, but police did not intercede when protesters were still in place after the deadline had passed.
The university released a statement at 7:50 p.m. saying the encampment “is an unauthorized use of university space and violates several university policies. The university and D.C. police are continuing to work in coordination to determine how to best address the situation and ensure student compliance with those policies.”
The Hatchet reported Friday that the main campus plaza nearby, Kogan Plaza, was fenced off by police overnight, and sirens blared at around 2 a.m. as police warned they were about to start arresting students — but the arrests never came.
The student-run publication also said that the encampments started at 5 a.m. on Thursday with 50 tents being pitched in University Yard, only three blocks away from the White House.
The Associated Press&nbsp;reported the number of demonstrators grew significantly throughout the morning, with demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, beating drums and chanting&nbsp;slogans.
Later, a group of Georgetown University students and professors staged their own walkout and marched to the George Washington campus to join in with the protesters there.
Students from other local colleges, including American University, George Mason and the University of Maryland also took part in the rally on GW’s campus.
Despite a robust police presence on the edges of the encampment, there were no serious incidents.
The protesters are demanding that the university divest from all relations with Israel and lift a suspension against a prominent pro-Palestinian student group. The Washington Post also reported on a rally earlier this week at American University where students marched to the president’s office building to demand that the administration divest from Israel.
Nationally, administrators and police at university campuses from California to Connecticut are wrestling with how to address pro-Palestinian student protests that have led to scuffles with police and hundreds of arrests.
The protests were mostly inspired by the first encampments at Columbia University, which are still up on their tenth day as officials try to negotiate with students to dismantle the protest by the school’s Friday deadline.
WTOP’s Kyle Cooper, Will Vitka, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
                
                
                
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Student protesters are still camped out on George Washington University's campus on Friday, as protests over the Israel-Hamas war continue after both Georgetown University and GWU saw hundreds rally the day before.
                                       
    
                                                
                                
                Student protesters are still camped out on George Washington University’s campus Friday as demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war continue one day after both Georgetown University and GWU saw hundreds rally on their campuses.
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Students remain in encampment on GWU’s campus as Israel-Hamas war protests continue nationwide - WTOP News

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