On Friday, the District of Columbia police department declined a request from George Washington University (GWU) officials to clear an “encampment” of students and others protesting Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza. The District police cited the “optics of moving against a small group of peaceful protestors” as one of the reasons for not acting.
D.C. police rejected pleas from George Washington University officials to clear pro-Palestinian demonstrators out of an on-campus encampment early Friday morning, saying they worried about the optics of moving against a small number of peaceful protesters, according to two officials familiar with the talks.
Officers were prepared to move in early Friday morning but were ordered to stand down.
Officers had assembled around 3 a.m. and were prepared to enter the encampment, but senior leaders in the police chief’s and mayor’s office ordered them to stand down, the officials said. The demonstrators were small in number and largely peaceful, and the city officials told their university counterparts they wanted to avoid images of violent altercations between police and protesters flashing across TV screens across the country.
On Friday, my colleague Jeff Charles, in a related story, presented a photo of a protestor carrying a sign reading “final solution” on the GWU campus.
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This is almost certainly a reference to the “final solution to the Jewish question,” a WW2-era, German euphemism for the Holocaust.
There were reportedly discussions between GWU officials and the District police on what the proper response to the protests would be:
A spokeswoman for George Washington University did not answer questions about school officials’ discussions with law enforcement authorities. The school said in a statement, “After demonstrators refused multiple instructions to relocate, GWPD requested additional support from the DC Metropolitan Police to ensure the safety and security of all our community members through a measured and orderly approach.”
D.C. police also declined to comment on agency officials’ discussions with the university, and it was not immediately clear what tactics they considered using as officers prepared to enter the encampment Friday morning. D.C. police are accustomed to dealing with daily demonstrations over all manner of political issues in the nation’s capital, and they typically try to convince demonstrators to voluntarily surrender. But they can also use more aggressive tactics, donning riot gear, forming lines and forcefully trying to move large groups.
At last word, DC Police were still monitoring the protest at GWU.
There is increasing evidence of outside funding and promotion of these protests.
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It’s a little baffling that the D.C. police are worried about the optics of removing protestors who are (as seen in the “final solution” sign, also on the GWU campus) advocating for an actual genocide. But one would suppose that, as long as the protests really are peaceful and day-to-day operations at the university are not interfered with, the protesters may protest until they are blue in the face, and the First Amendment still applies to them.
But the rhetoric, it should be noted, is growing increasingly violent and hostile. The D.C. police may well yet be called upon to do more than “monitor.” Those aggressive tactics may yet be called for.
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