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GU Reports Violent Flyers Referencing Charlie Kirk’s Assassination to FBI Patrick Clapsaddle and Nora Toscano Executive Editors

Georgetown University public safety officials reported to the FBI the discovery of flyers on campus featuring graphic language relating to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the university announced in a Sept. 25 email to community members. Josh Bornstein, Georgetown’s vice president for public safety, said university officials removed the flyers following their discovery near Village A and Red Square. “On Wednesday, September 24, flyers including violent language appeared on the bulletin board outside of the Village A apartment complex, and on Thursday, September 25, similar flyers with violent imagery and language relating to Charlie Kirk appeared in Red Square,” Bornstein wrote in the email. Some of the flyers — which read, “Hey Fascist! Catch,” “We Protect Us. Do something more than symbolic resistance,” and “FOLLOW YOUR LEADER, REST IN PISS CHARLIE” — included a QR code that redirected those who scanned it to a Google Form titled “Georgetown John Brown Club Interest.” The form did not specify what the Georgetown John Brown Club is, nor does the university officially recognize the club. As of Sept. 25 at 10:09 p.m., the form is no longer accepting responses. According to a Sept. 12 affidavit filed in a Utah court following Kirk’s assassination, the phrase, “hey fascist! CATCH!” appeared on

one of the bullet casings found near the site of the shooting. The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) — a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to combatting all forms of violent political extremism — classifies the John Brown Gun Club as a far-left gun rights group which aims to combat white supremacy. However, no publicly accessible information on the John Brown Gun Club exists. Bornstein said the university removed the flyers and is investigating their presence and potential implications for campus safety. “In both instances, university officials acted quickly to remove them,” Bornstein wrote. “We are investigating these incidents, and we have reported them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” “The safety and security of the Georgetown community is our highest priority,” Bornstein added. Lukas Pitman (SFS ’27), president of the Georgetown Bipartisan Coalition (GUBC), said the flyers are not indicative of the Georgetown community or its principles. “This does not represent our Georgetown community,” Pitman told The Hoya. “I want that to be made clear. This is not representative of Georgetown. This is something that I think we’re all in agreement — specifically as political clubs — that this is not right, this is not okay, and for us to be construed as supportive of that; it’s wrong.” See KIRK, A7

HAAN JUN (RYAN) LEE/THE HOYA

Georgetown University will move forward with proposals to swtich the operation of its shuttle service, the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS), to a third-party vendor despite outcry among community over concerns for GUTS workers.

GU to Continue With GUTS Policy Change Ajani Stella

Senior News Editor

Georgetown University will move forward with plans to transfer management of its shuttle service to a third-party vendor after more than 1,160 university community members signed a petition opposing the switch. The university’s new policy would require Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) drivers to shift to third-party contractor Abe’s Transportation — which would make them no longer university employees — or transfer to another

university department, many of which pay less. After the university made the decision Sept. 24, the Georgetown Coalition for Workers’ Rights (GCWR), a student group advocating for labor rights that led the petition, said it would hold another “Week of Action” to place additional pressure on university administrators to reconsider. The petition, which included 1,130 signatures when delivered to administrators Sept. 19, asked the university to stop pursuing a contract with Abe’s Transportation and maintain its independent bus fleet. GCWR demanded a university response by Sept. 24

and held a rally before delivering the petition to Joe Ferrara, the university’s chief of staff. In the university’s email response to the petition, David Green, the university’s chief operating officer, said GUTS is an “essential service” for the university that requires thirdparty management going forward. “We believe at this time that our best course of action is to partner fully with a third-party provider whose primary focus is on leading and managing bus systems,” Green wrote in the email. “This is an industry that requires true expertise — something we believe

is not a core business of a university, especially in a complex metropolitan area like Washington, D.C.” After reading Green’s email, Noel Tiongson, a GUTS driver, said he did not believe the issues drivers brought up in their previous town halls about the change — including a reduction in benefits and lack of respect from the university — were settled. “I believe it is a reflection of the administration’s lack of transparency and sincerity to actually do what is proper and fair,” Tiongson wrote to The Hoya. “The Georgetown See GUTS, A7

GU Privacy Law Group Says Nearing Government Shutdown DHS Illegally Collecting DNA Creates GU Community Concerns Ajani Stella and Emily Dabre

Senior News Editor and Graduate Desk Editor

A Georgetown University privacy law group accused the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of illegally collecting U.S. citizens’ DNA at immigration checkpoints in a Sept. 23 report. The Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, which focuses on surveillance and privacy law, analyzed data spreadsheets from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a DHS agency that manages border security, finding more than 2,000 instances where the agency collected detained U.S. citizens’ DNA from 2020 to 2024. The report’s authors argued that the DNA collection allows broad government surveillance that threatens U.S. citizens’ personal liberties, a finding that they hope will spur Congress to enact greater oversight over DHS. While immigration officials are permitted under federal law to collect the DNA of citizens arrested for federal crimes so agents can track and process arrestees, the report’s authors argue that many instances involved citizens who were merely detained and not charged. Emerald Tse, an associate at the Center on Privacy & Technology who co-wrote the report, said the report’s findings demonstrate that the DHS has been collecting DNA from U.S. citizens.

“From this update, we found that DHS has regularly and knowingly been taking DNA from U.S. citizens,” Tse told The Hoya. “It’s been doing so beyond its legal authority, and many times without justification.” While CBP’s directives state its officers may never refer to U.S. citizens as detainees in logs, CBP’s own data shows that it did so at least 500 times, according to the report. Such instances in the report include DHS collecting the DNA of a 25-year-old citizen who was detained with no charge in March 2021 and of a 19-year-old citizen whom a prosecutor declined to bring charges against in August 2024. A February CBP directive refers to DNA collection as a standard procedure akin to fingerprinting, which helps law enforcement identify and track individuals. Once immigration officials collect a detainee’s DNA, they submit it to CODIS, the FBI’s DNA database, becoming part of permanent law enforcement records. The report’s authors argued the federal agents’ justifications for sending DNA information to the FBI were generally “legally questionable, nonsensical or altogether absent.” Hilton Beckham, CBP’s assistant commissioner of public affairs, said DNA collection was necessary to reverse what she deemed the former President Joe Biden administration’s “reckless policies,” though the

report only includes data from Biden’s tenure. “In order to secure our borders, CBP devoted every resource available to identify who was entering our country, making sure we do not let in human smugglers, child sex traffickers and other criminals into American communities,” Beckham wrote to The Hoya. Though data from President Donald Trump’s second term was not available, the authors said they expect an “even broader and more reckless approach” under his administration due to his immigration policies. Beckham cited two statutes that allow immigration officials different avenues to collect DNA: U.S. citizens who are arrested and charged with a crime, or noncitizens who are detained. Under the statutes, DNA can never be collected from U.S. citizens who are merely detained without a formal arrest and charge. Stevie Glaberson, the director of research and advocacy for the Center on Privacy & Technology and another report co-author, said Beckham’s assertions do not address the report’s findings of allegedly illegal DNA collection. “There is a federal statute that permits the collection of DNA from even U.S. citizens who are arrested, charged and convicted of crimes, but the second piece does not, by definition, include

Ajani Stella and Shira Oz Senior News Editor and City Desk Editor

As the United States Congress remains deadlocked in budget negotiations, Georgetown University community members who work in government and public service remain concerned about the impact of a shutdown if no agreement is reached by Oct. 1. Democrats and Republicans in Congress must approve either the full budget or pass a short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, when it returns to session Sept. 29. A shutdown would temporarily halt non-essential government services and place thousands of government employees on furlough, or temporary suspension of paid employment, the main concern for several students and faculty. Shardul Krishna Kumar (CAS ’27), who is currently interning for Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), said many of the constituents who call his office will lose key government resources during a shutdown. “That just put much more of a direct, personal perspective on what this shutdown is really about,” Krishna Kumar told The Hoya. “Ultimately, it is about the millions of Americans who are living in a time of uncertainty where they don’t know if

THE HOYA FILE PHOTOS/THE HOYA

The U.S. Congress remains gridlocked over budget negotiations, See SHUTDOWN, A7 raising concerns the federal government will shut down.

See DNA, A7

NEWS

OPINION

GUIDE

SPORTS

STIA at GU-Q

Respect GUTS Workers

‘Him’ Gets Lost in Itself

Men’s Soccer vs. GMU

A12/A11

The SFS-Qatar campus introduced its own science, technology and international affairs major program.

The Editorial Board calls on the university administration to hold true to Jesuit values amid a proposed GUTS policy change.

Produced by Jordan Peele, “Him” gets a bit sanctimonious but still serves its purpose, says Tanvi Gorripatti (CAS’27).

The Georgetown University men’s soccer team came back from a first-half deficit to beat George Mason University 5-2 Sept. 23.

The Tombs

Caroline’s Corner

Eat Speak

NASCAR CEO at GU

A10

Following community backlash, The Tombs temporarily suspended a recently implemented weekend cover charge.

In the latest installment of her column, Caroline Brown (CAS ’26) shares her advice on work-life balance and coping with guilt.

In the first installment of their column, Ginger Fernandez (SFS ’29) and Riya Sundaram (CAS ’29) dish deets on local eats.

Published Fridays

At a Sept. 21 event, NASCAR CEO Steve Phelps shared his experience and vision for the future of auto racing.

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