On the afternoon on May 8, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith were scheduled to testify to Congressman James Comer’s House Oversight Committee as to why D.C. police had not shut down a protest encampment on the campus of George Washington University, despite repeated requests from the GWU administration. However, the Congressional hearing was canceled because mere hours before, D.C. police closed down the encampment and arrested 33 people. The Mayor and the Chief were thus spared any awkward testimony, according to the Washington Post.
After two weeks of the encampment, the only act of violence was the toppling of a police barricade last week. The GWU student government issued a statement that it “firmly stands behind our students and their right to free speech, assembly, and peaceful protest.” Protesters complained that GWU President Ellen Granberg has made statements against the protesters that are misleading and that Granberg has refused to meet with them.
