The GW
HATCHET
April 29, 2024 Vol. 120 Iss. 27
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER • SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904 • ONLINE AT GWHATCHET.COM
DANIEL HEUER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
STUDENTS TAKE U-YARD Protesters overrun barricades blocking pro-Palestinian encampment ERIKA FILTER NEWS EDITOR
Hundreds of protesters broke through barricades blocking access to the pro-Palestinian encampment in University Yard on Sunday night. At 11:28 p.m. students toppled the barricade between U-Yard and H Street after one GW Police Department officer, supported by three others, held the arms of a protester inside the encampment behind his back and moved him toward the encampment’s northwest barricade. Immediately after, one of the three officers removed his baton from its holster. Protesters on H Street — where a second encampment has formed following officials’ construction of a fence around U-Yard Friday morning — surged to the barricade, forcing an impasse, chanting “Let him go” and “Shame on you.” A University statement issued at 6:30 a.m. said “professional organizers,” University students and activists joined the “unauthorized” U-Yard encampment. “This is an egregious viola-
tion of community trust and goes far beyond the boundaries of free expression and the right to protest,” the statement reads. “The university will use every avenue available to ensure those involved are held accountable for their actions.” The statement says the University is aware of reports of an attempted arrest — the statement said those reports are false, and that a student jumped over the barricade and was being escorted out by GWPD. The statement said the University has arranged for additional security resources to respond to the demonstration and that MPD remains on the scene. “Despite the ongoing disturbance on University Yard, GW is open and operating with enhanced safety measures.” the statement reads. “We will release additional details as the situation evolves.” Students pressed phone cameras into the faces of officers as they pushed against the barriers. Additional protesters, police reinforcements and members of the
press pushed their way around the barricade and into the encampment during the chaos, and police held the line, keeping most of the crowd at bay. Organizers said demonstrators were able to “de-arrest” the detained protester as chants from the crowd against the police continued. After a brief struggle, protesters pushed over the northwest barricade, breaking through the line of police and tearing down the rest of the metal fences surrounding the plaza as they surged into U-Yard. In moments, after more than 90 hours of protesting, the barrier that had separated demonstrators inside and outside U-Yard was gone. Students streamed through the central entrance of U-Yard, hopping the barricade before it fell. They rushed into the U-Yard encampment shortly after, centralizing around the George Washington statue in the center of the square, locked together, arm-inarm. “GW, shame on you, you endanger students too,” speakers
ARWEN CLEMANS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A demonstrator speaks to a crowd at the barricades that bordered H Street as students sit and cheer.
shouted. More students piled into UYard through the central entrance from H Street. “F*ck your barricade,” protesters yelled. Police briefly reconstructed the northwest barricade, but within an hour, students had broken
through again. Organizers yelled through a megaphone to tear down the barricades, and in groups, protesters grabbed the fences from all corners of U-Yard and tossed them into a heap in the center of the plaza while chanting and clapping. See PROTESTERS Page 3
Four days inside the U-Yard, H Street camps
Community members react to anti-war encampments, protests
ERIKA FILTER
FIONA RILEY
RORY QUEALY
RACHEL MOON
In the buildup to breaking through the barricades that blocked off University Yard from H Street late Sunday night, pro-Palestinian demonstrators remained inside two encampments for more than 90 hours. The protesters demand GW’s divestment from companies tied to Israel, the removal of reported charges against pro-Palestinian student organizers, protection of pro-Palestinian speech, disclosure all its endowments and investments and the end to academic partnerships with Israel. Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza as of Monday, many of whom are women and children. It’s been 24 years since the last major campus occupation protest. In 2000, protesters swarmed the Foggy Bottom campus, creating human chains diverting traffic to prevent the International Monetary Fund and
As demonstrators flocked to H Street this week to support the proPalestinian encampment and join in protests calling for a ceasefire and University divestment from Israel, statements on the protest flowed in from faculty, student organizations and a member of a local governing body. Seven hours after proPalestinian protesters erected tents in University Yard on Thursday, community members began releasing statements of both support and condemnation for the encampment and the subsequent suspension of students occupying U-Yard. Faculty and Foggy Bottom community leaders signed statements of support and many student organizations posted supportive statements on Instagram. Over 40 student organizations, including WRGW, GW Reproductive Autonomy and Gender
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LEXI CRITCHETT | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Demonstrators chant outside the University Yard encampments.
World Bank meetings. About 85 tents now sit in U-Yard, with roughly 24 more pitched on H Street. Demonstrators have indicated that they do not intend to leave the area. Here’s a rundown on the major events of each of the four days:
Day 1 — Thursday
The encampment began early Thursday morning, four days before they broke through the barricade. About 50 protesters pitched tents in U-Yard around 5 a.m. Later that day, hundreds of pro-Palestinian
demonstrators gathered in the space. GW, George Mason, American, Georgetown, Howard and Gallaudet universities and the universities of Maryland and Maryland, Baltimore County, collaborated to organize the encampment. Demonstrators played live messages from students living in Gaza just after 2 p.m. A student in Gaza thanked D.C.-area chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine for hosting the demonstration. See RUNDOWN Page 3
Equity and GW Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights, have released statements of solidarity with students in the encampment, with more than a dozen directly condemning and calling for a reversal of the University’s alleged suspension of seven participants. Two student organizations have condemned the encampment, arguing that their chants are antisemitic, aggressive and incite hate. The Muslim Students’ Association on Saturday released a statement on Instagram expressing solidarity with the students in the encampment and “wholeheartedly” supporting the students’ demands for the University to divest from “Zionist” companies, protect pro-Palestinian speech on campus, end academic partnerships with “Zionist” institutions and drop the reported charges against pro-Palestinian student organizers. “We commend the courage and determination of the students who are raising their voices in support of Palestine, despite facing
suppression and opposition from university administrators,” the statement read. The Residence Hall Association issued an Instagram statement Saturday that condemned the reported suspension of seven students. The statement said without due process, GW’s suspension of students put them at risk of homelessness and food insecurity because they no longer have access to their housing or meal plans. “For students to incur such significant harm resulting from University action is antithetical to the University’s responsibility to protect its students and its goal to eliminate food insecurity on campus,” the statement read. J Street U at GWU issued a statement via Instagram on Saturday demanding that the reported student suspensions be overturned and said they are “deeply concerned” by the Metropolitan Police Department’s presence on campus and in the encampment area. See MEMBERS Page 3