As final exams near and the war in Gaza rages on, Pro-Palestinian protesters at George Washington University in D.C. continued demonstrating for a sixth day on Tuesday.
The protests on the D.C. campus come as universities in Virginia and nationwide contend with encampments of pro-Palestinian protesters.
Protesters are demanding that universities divest from Israel. GWU demonstrators are also asking the school to remove a suspension against a pro-Palestinian student group.
Before dawn on Monday, GWU protesters tore down metal barriers around the encampment that were restricting them to the school’s University Yard. The demonstrators set up more than a dozen tents on H Street.
The university said Sunday the group of about 200 protesters at the encampment include “professional organizers, activists, and university students” from across the D.C. area
A spokesperson with D.C. police told WTOP that the protests have remained peaceful. The department is monitoring the demonstrations on campus and on H Street.
No arrests have been made by D.C. police.
Final exams start next week at George Washington University. Graduation is slotted for May 19.
Arrests made at Virginia universities, JHU protests breaks down
The number of arrests at campuses nationwide is approaching 1,000.
Some universities have taken action to break up encampments. Late Monday, police in riot gear at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond clashed with protesters, deploying pepper spray and zip-ties to take them into custody.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears said both students and non-students were arrested. Earle-Sears said some protesters threw bottles “filled with unknown substances” at officers.
Meanwhile at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, 82 protesters have been arrested, including 52 college students.
The university said while protests remained “safe and peaceful” over the weekend, when demonstrators moved to expand the encampment the school asked them to disperse. The university said it warned protesters that if they didn’t leave, they could be charged with trespassing.
Elsewhere, a pro-Palestinian encampment at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, dissolved Tuesday morning after officials said they reached an agreement with student demonstrators.
According to news outlet WJZ, demonstrators initially planned not to leave the encampment until the university cut ties with Tel-Aviv University in Israel, where a two-year Master of Arts program partnership was established. However, a statement released by the school said both sides agreed to end the encampment, and students would be allowed to peacefully protest for a second day.
See WJZ’s report below.
The Associated Press, CNN and WTOP’s Matt Small and Ciara Wells contributed to this report.
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