D.C. Mayor Avoids Congressional Testimony After Siccing Cops on Student Protesters

Nikki McCann Ramirez
·4-min read

The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee announced Wednesday morning that it had canceled a hearing scheduled later in the day in which lawmakers planned to interrogate D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser about her response to pro-Palestinian student protests at George Washington University. The cancellation came hours after police raided and cleared the student encampment, which had been occupying a lawn on the university campus since April 25.

According to The GW Hatchet, the university’s student newspaper of record, more than 30 protesters were arrested by D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Police surrounded the encampment and deployed pepper spray against protesters who refused to vacate the area, or attempted to forcibly access the space to support protesters. Previously, MPD had refused to clear the encampment given that the student protesters had exhibited “no violence, no violent behavior, no confrontations,” and were not deemed a threat to public safety.

Bowser, a Democrat, was summoned to appear before the House Oversight Committee by its chair, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) last week. “The House Oversight Committee is deeply concerned over reports indicating the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department rejected George Washington University’s request for help in removing the radical, antisemitic, and unlawful protestors occupying the campus and surrounding public lands,” Comer said in a statement.  Bowser’s attendance was confirmed by a committee spokesperson on Tuesday.

In a statement to reporters given hours after the encampment was cleared, MPD Chief Pamela A. Smith said that the department had begun coordinating with Bowser on plans to clear the encampment on Monday, citing increased volatility within the protest. Smith confirmed that 33 protesters had been arrested on various charges of trespassing and assault against law enforcement, and confirmed that no officers were seriously injured during the event.

Smith denied that the timing of MPD’s decision to clear the encampment had anything to do with the scheduled hearing. Bowser told reporters that she had spoken to Comer that morning, who “expressed interest in making sure that the city and the chief could focus on this ongoing operation.”

“I expect that that hearing will be pulled down,” Bowser added.

The hearing was indeed pulled down. In a statement announcing the cancellation of Wednesday’s hearing, Comer wrote that he was “pleased that the potential Oversight hearing led to swift action by Mayor Bowser and MPD Chief Smith.”

“Following the Metropolitan Police Department finally clearing out the unlawful encampment on GW’s campus, I am very pleased to announce that the hearing with Mayor Bowser has been canceled. I had a good conversation with Mayor Bowser. I thanked her for finally clearing the trespassers off the GW Campus,” Comer added.

The decision to sic police on protesters was endorsed by at least one Democratic congressman. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D- Fla.) applauded the MPD’s actions.

“As a [George Washington University] alumnus, I am happy to see the unlawful encampment on campus cleared out by MPD. It’s my hope MPD will continue to assist GW so that it can enforce its policies & code of conduct,” he wrote.

The crackdown against student protesters at GWU coincides with a national wave of violent police action against student protesters demanding universities and colleges divest from companies profiting off of the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza — where more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s brutal siege against the Gaza Strip.

According to an analysis by the Associated Press, more than 2,000 students, faculty, and others have been arrested across the United States in relation to the protests. The aggression against demonstrators — in Los Angeles, New York, and across the nation — has only grown the protest movement, which shows no signs of abating.

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