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Cops in nation’s capital draw ire, support for staying away from campus protest

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Cops in nation’s capital draw ire, support for staying away from campus protest


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As police swarmed pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses across the country this week, officers in the nation’s capital refused to get involved, igniting ire from Republican Congressmembers and raising thorny ethics questions about bringing outside cops to university property.

Fueling part of the controversy are reports that Metropolitan Police supposedly turned down pleas from university administrators to get involved amid escalating protests against the war in Gaza on George Washington University’s Washington, D.C., campus late last week. The move deviated from decisions by other police departments to march on college campuses, disband student demonstrations, and arrest hundreds this week.

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The tent encampment covering University Yard, a square area in the center of the George Washington University campus, entered its eighth day on Thursday. Hours after around 20 tents went up in the early morning hours of April 25, the university demanded that protesters disperse and dismantle them.

When the demonstrators refused to leave, the university reached out to metro police to break up the encampment, with President Ellen Granberg and Provost Christopher Bracey calling it an “unauthorized use of university space.”

But metro police refused to send their officers into the campus, fearing the optics of a police crackdown on students less than a mile from the White House, according to the Washington Post.

Police wrote in an email to USA TODAY that the department “stood in support” of the response of campus police, who take “the lead in the response to first amendment demonstrations occurring on GWU grounds.” The department declined to comment on “operational tactics or procedures.”

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George Washington officials did not provide additional comment in response to USA TODAY’s request.

Listen: Police order dispersal of gathering at UCLA as protests continue nationwide | The Excerpt

GOP congressmembers make trip to GWU

The metro police decision not to get involved presented an opportunity for a political jab from some Republican members of the House Oversight Committee, who visited the encampment on Wednesday to condemn the police department’s refusal to act.

“We expect these encampments to be cleared out,” Committee Chair James Comer said, after walking through a crowd of protesters booing and heckling. In a letter to Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, he and Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx also slammed metro police for refusing to get involved “over fears of public criticism.”

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But experts cautioned university administrators to think carefully before involving police in campus protests. Before calling in law enforcement, university administrations should have a crystal clear picture of what’s going on, said Christy Lopez, a professor at Georgetown Law. That level of certainty could be missing from the decisions of some administrations.

“Sometimes it’s just really fuzzy and things are moving quickly, and you need to make sure that you understand what’s going on,” she said. “Sometimes, it can be sort of reckless to the point of almost deliberate” to call in police without the full facts established, she added.

Lopez commended police in the nation’s capital for not getting involved in the protest at George Washington. “We should not have to rely on police departments restraining themselves,” she said. “But as that instance shows, sometimes you have to rely on the police department to show the level of judgment that campus officials may not be showing.”

Almost every recent instance she had seen of police response to student protests could present grounds for a critical incident review of officers’ actions, she said. “I think that every single crackdown that I’ve seen warrants that level of scrutiny,” she added.

Protesters Face Charges: Campus protests across the US result in arrests by the hundreds. But will the charges stick?

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Hundreds arrested at campus protests

The decision made metro police an outlier among other city police departments that sent officers into the chaotic center of campus demonstrations.

The NYPD made its first wave of around 100 arrests on Columbia University’s Manhattan campus in mid-April after it entered campus upon request from university President Minouche Shafik to dismantle a tent encampment. The situation has only escalated since then – on Tuesday night, NYPD officers arrested nearly 300 people at demonstrations at Columbia and the City College of New York.

At a news conference on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said NYPD carried out the operation at the university’s request. “The request we received in writing could not have been clearer,” he said.

In Austin, police in riot gear, riding horses, and wielding batons and pepper spray descended on protests at the University of Texas campus last week upon the university’s request. Although charges against the 57 people arrested were dropped, officers returned on Monday to arrest nearly 80 more.

In an email to USA TODAY, Austin police said the level of assistance that its officers provided to campus police changed with the dynamics of the situation. At first, officers helped to transport those arrested to jail. More recently, campus police asked Austin officers to assist them in making arrests. After campus police and Texas Department of Public Safety officers decided to disband the protest, “it became apparent that additional resources were needed for officer safety and the safety of those taking part in the demonstration.”

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“Moving forward as the demonstrations continue, APD will remain ready to provide assistance to [campus police] if requested,” Austin police said in the email.

Experts say police should build trust with protesters

Lopez said building up a level of trust with protesters by acting with restraint can help law enforcement work effectively in the midst of a protest. “Is there an alternative to just going in and tearing apart an encampment or shutting down a protest? Or can you be more directed and actually figure out who’s causing the problems?” she said.

Either way, law enforcement’s response to the protests could leave a lasting mark on how young people view the ethics of policing, Lopez said. “How the police respond here is going to be as indelibly marked on the political consciousness of youth today, as the police response during the Vietnam War protest was on youth of that era,” she said.

“This is going to define how they think about not just police, but government, about the legitimacy of authority,” she added. “That’s really, really an important thing for police and leaders to be thinking about, is that they’re forging that reality and those perceptions right now.”

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. Reach her on email at cmayesosterman@usatoday.com. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.

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Weekend weather in the DC Area: A little bit of everything

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Weekend weather in the DC Area: A little bit of everything


If you’ve got plans around D.C., Maryland, or Northern Virginia this weekend, you’ll want to stay flexible.

The forecast brings a mix of warm temperatures, sunshine, and a few rounds of showers and storms—especially Saturday and late Sunday.

Here’s a simple, hour-by-hour style breakdown so you can plan ahead.

Saturday: Warm Front, Clouds, and Spotty Storms

Morning (6 AM – 12 PM)

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Mostly cloudy to start

A few early showers possible, especially toward the MD/PA border

Temperatures climbing through the 60s into the low 70s

What’s happening: A warm front is lifting north, bringing in milder air.

Afternoon (12 PM – 5 PM)

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Highs reach the mid-70s

Clouds may break at times

Scattered showers and thunderstorms develop

Saturday PM Forecast
Saturday highs

Storm window: 2 PM – 7 PM

About a 50% chance of rain

Severe risk is low, but not zero

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Possible:

Brief heavy downpours

Gusty winds

Maybe even small hail in isolated spots

Good news: Not everyone sees rain—but keep an eye on the sky.

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Evening & Night (After 7 PM)

Storm chances linger early, then fade

Skies turn partly cloudy overnight

Lows drop to the mid-50s

Winds become light

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Most of the night should be quiet and comfortable.

Sunday: The Pick of the Weekend

Morning

Dry and pleasant

A mix of sun and clouds early

Afternoon

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Sunny and warmer

Highs in the low 80s

Light southwest breeze

This is your best outdoor day—great for parks, brunch, or yard work.

Sunday PM Forecast
Sunday highs

Sunday Night (After Midnight)

Clouds increase

Showers likely after midnight (70% chance)

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Lows in the mid-50s

Winds shift from the north

Rain becomes more steady and widespread overnight

Looking Ahead (Late Sunday into Monday)

A cold front approaches from the northwest

Best chance for rain: Sunday night → Monday morning

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Rainfall totals:

Generally 0.10″ to 0.25″

Locally higher in spots

Storms are possible, but:

Limited instability

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Severe weather risk remains low

Weekend Planning Tips

Saturday:

Keep plans flexible—have a backup indoor option in the afternoon

Sunday:

Get outside early—it’s the best weather window

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Sunday night:

Expect rain if you’re out late or traveling

The Big Picture

This weekend is part of a warming trend, with temperatures climbing from the 70s into the 80s. But with that warmth comes multiple chances for showers and storms, especially as weather fronts move through the region.

This weekend compared too next

This weekend compared too next



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Mom finds out daughter with autism was sexually abused at DC school week after it happened

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Mom finds out daughter with autism was sexually abused at DC school week after it happened


CONTENT WARNING: This story contains content that may be uncomfortable to some readers. Discretion is advised.

WASHINGTON (7News) — A mother said she learned her 13-year-old daughter was sexually abused in a D.C. school when a detective contacted her a week after it happened. She said the school never notified her.

7News sat down with the mother on Friday, while her daughter was being evaluated and interviewed by detectives. We’re not sharing the mom’s identity to protect her daughter.

ALSO READ | Virginia health officials monitor cruise ship passengers for deadly hantavirus symptoms

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The mom said she got a call Sunday night, “regarding my daughter and a sexual assault that happened at school involving my daughter last Monday.”

However, it didn’t come from the place or people she said she counted on.

“I never got a phone call from the school, an email, a text, nothing to say,” said the mom. Nothing happened until a week later.

That’s when a detective called and told her what happened.

“She was forced to give oral sex to a student in school,” said the mom.

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Her 13-year-old daughter is disabled, autistic, and has challenges communicating.

The mom said she was sending her daughter to school without knowing what happened.

“I noticed a little behavior, emotional changes,” said the mom. “When I got that call now, it makes sense to, you know, what you because of what she had experienced at school and to come home and she didn’t say anything or no one had called me and just like it breaks my heart.”

7News obtained a copy of the police report, which confirms the youth investigative branch is investigating what happened to her daughter as sexual abuse. It shows that a Kelly Miller Middle School social worker reported it to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) last week.

“I just hope that I can be able to get her back on the right track. From all the trauma, on top of trauma,” said the mom. “To be able to grow and not have to hold that in the back of her head that she experienced in school, which should have been her safe place.”

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7News started reaching out to DCPS just after 12:30 p.m. to ask if the students suspected of the abuse have been removed from the school, and why parents wouldn’t have been notified about the incident. They did not get back to us until after our first report aired. They did not answer either question. They provided the following statement.

A district spokesperson provided this statement:

At DC Public Schools (DCPS), student safety and wellbeing are paramount, and the district treats any allegation of sexual misconduct with the utmost seriousness. DCPS will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as this matter is investigated.

In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and our obligation to maintain student confidentiality, we are unable to provide comment on individual student cases.

If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault or abuse, the National Sexual Assault Hotline can be accessed by calling 1-800-656-4673.

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Canvas cyberattack leaves many DC-area school systems without service

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Canvas cyberattack leaves many DC-area school systems without service


A cyberattack on the Canvas learning management system left thousands of schools and universities offline Thursday, disrupting access to grades, assignments, course materials and lecture videos as students prepared for finals.

The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach, according to the Associated Press. Instructure, the company behind Canvas, did not immediately respond to questions about whether the system was taken down as a precaution or knocked offline, the AP reported.

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READ MORE: Canvas outage impacts thousands of schools, universities: Hacker group reportedly takes credit

The hacking group posted online that nearly 9,000 schools worldwide were affected, with billions of private messages and other records accessed. Many school systems and universities in the Washington, D.C. region rely on Canvas as their primary learning management system.

In Montgomery County, school officials said access to the platform will remain unavailable “out of an abundance of caution” while they work to understand the impact of the incident and any potential vulnerabilities. Families were urged not to log in until MCPS and the myMCPS Classroom vendor resolve the issue.

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The University of Maryland said it does not yet know when Canvas will return to service.

Canvas Cyberattack DC-Area School Systems Affected

Montgomery County Public Schools

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Canvas (myMCPS Classroom) owned by Instructure Inc., is used by the school district as its learning management system. Due to a reported global cybersecurity concern involving Canvas, and impacting numerous school systems, universities, corporations in Maryland, other states, and worldwide, thus access to myMCPS Classroom has been disabled.

Out of an abundance of caution, access to the system will remain unavailable while we work to better understand the full impact of the incident and any potential vulnerabilities involving information connected to the platform. Please do not attempt to log in to the platform until MCPS and the myMCPS Classroom (Canvas) vendor have resolved this problem.

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At this time, appropriate MCPS technology and security staff are continuing to assess the situation and coordinate with the vendor. We understand this disruption is frustrating and appreciate your patience as this work continues.

myMCPS Classroom provides access to student information such as grades, assignments, attendance, and course materials, and is an important tool for students and families to monitor academic progress. Additional information on how students can access resources and functions in myMCPS Classroom will be provided as soon as possible.

Updates will be shared as soon as additional information becomes available.

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University of Maryland

Canvas may appear to be up right now, but please to not use it. DIT Security is not confident the system is safe to use right now. Please check back here before using Canvas.

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For our faculty who use Canvas, we have created this guidance, and we will continue adding resources tomorrow. Please stay in touch with your students as we adapt to this evolving situation.

Prince George’s County Schools

There has been a cybersecurity incident involving Canvas, our Learning Management System.

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Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, notified us of a global cybersecurity incident affecting 275 million users across numerous educational institutions. We have been informed that PGCPS was one of the many impacted organizations. While personal information including names, emails and Student IDs was impacted, NO sensitive  information, such as dates of birth, passwords, financial information, was involved. PGCPS does not store that type of sensitive information or parent information in Canvas.

We are using this as an opportunity to reinforce the importance of exercising caution when communicating by email and remaining vigilant regarding suspicious messages, spam, phishing attempts, or other potentially fraudulent communications. 

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We will continue to monitor the situation and remain in close communication with Instructure.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Due to the ongoing issues with the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), AACPS will operate schools on Friday, May 8, 2026, without the use of the LMS. The Virtual Academy will also remain open with altered instructional delivery that will also not use the LMS. Further instructions will be communicated from the school principal. The latest information regarding the breach and the status of school district operations can be found at www.aacps.org/canvasbreach.

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Prince William County Public Schools

We are aware of the error appearing when accessing Canvas and are actively working with the vendor to resolve it. The issue is not just impacting PWCS, and is widespread and national in scope. We will provide updates when the vendor has resolved the issue.

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The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting. 

NewsConsumerMarylandWashington, D.C.Virginia



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