Washington

Congress cancels hearing on George Washington U protests after police clear encampment

Published

2 years ago

May 8, 2024

Congress cancels hearing on George Washington U protests after police clear encampment

(JTA) — Police in Washington, DC cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment from the campus of George Washington University and arrested 33 people early Wednesday, hours before a Congressional hearing was set to pressure local leaders on their response to the protest.

Shortly after the arrests, the Republican-led congressional committee canceled the hearing. Lawmakers had planned to grill DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and police chief Pamela Smith on why, prior to Wednesday morning’s arrests, the district had not clamped down on “unlawful activity and antisemitism” at the encampment. Washington police had previously rejected the university’s pleas to intervene on campus, citing the optics of disciplining protesters.

The arrests also follow the publication of dueling faculty letters supporting and opposing the encampment. One of the professors who had circulated the anti-encampment letter backed the arrests.

“It’s always upsetting when police have to get involved in this way, but I think there was no alternative,” Daniel Schwartz, a professor of Jewish history at GWU, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Their presence was a disturbance to many students, especially given the location. Final exams were being moved.”

THE TRUSTEES GATE at George Washington University (Illustrative). (credit: Sabrina Soffer)

Concerns about campus antisemitism

The letter Schwartz and a non-Jewish GWU colleague, Eric Arnesen, had circulated was signed by more than 100 university faculty and staff, many of them Jewish and most from the DC area.

The letter endorsed protecting peaceful protest but expressed concern about the allegations of antisemitism and said the demonstrations weren’t representative of the campus as a whole.

“While we oppose any attempt to ascribe antisemitic intent to all or even most of the protesters, it is indisputable that there have been numerous cases of harassment, abuse, and even physical violence against Jewish students on college campuses since October 7,” Schwartz and Ernesen’s open letter states. Later, they write, “We agree that student speech and protest should be respected — provided they follow reasonable university regulations and do not veer into the realm of harassment.”

A separate open letter from area faculty that had expressed support for the encampments, and downplayed reports of antisemitism among their participants, was signed by more than 500 people.

Universities across the country have struggled to find the right response to the encampments, which have gone up at dozens of schools over the past few weeks. Some have struck deals to clear them peacefully, and others have sent in law enforcement to break them up, leading to more than 2,500 arrests nationwide.

Jewish students and faculty on campuses with encampments have reported being harassed by protesters and say they create a hostile atmosphere, while many of the protests have featured Jewish contingents.

Protests at GWU over the Israel-Hamas war have often taken on a more aggressive tone than similar campus protests. Last fall the school suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, and the White House specifically called out the activists’ actions, after “Glory to our martyrs” was projected onto the side of a campus building named after a Jewish donor.

The campus had calmed down since the fall, but tensions flared up again with the recent encampments, Schwartz said. Recent encampment behavior has reportedly included blocking students’ ability to move through campus, replacing an American flag with a Palestinian flag and putting a keffiyeh onto a campus statue of George Washington. GWU President Ellen Granberg has also been a direct target of the protesters, both at fundraisers and on campus.

When the encampments sprang up in late April, GW Hillel called for the university “to take all needed actions to maintain a safe campus environment for all,” calling them “an embrace of hate” and stating, “We say unequivocally that no student’s rights to be safe, to pursue their education, and to be proud Jews should be compromised in response to another student’s actions.”

Days before the arrests, Granberg made a plea to DC law enforcement to help manage the “illegal” protests. Both Granberg and police said they gave the protesters several warnings to leave the encampment before arrests were made and offered an alternative protest site. Granberg wrote in a message to campus that the administration had “conducted regular and sustained dialogues” with encampment leaders.

“I fully support and encourage our community to speak out and engage in controversial and critical dialogues on these crucial issues — as long as they occur within the limits of our university’s policies and the District’s laws,” she wrote. “However, what is currently happening at GW is not a peaceful protest protected by the First Amendment or our university’s policies. The demonstration, like many around the country, has grown into what can only be classified as an illegal and potentially dangerous occupation of GW property.”

Prior to their arrest, members of the recent encampment at the school chanted slogans linking the Israel Defense Forces to the Ku Klux Klan, according to the Hatchet, the student newspaper.

Granberg “deserves a lot of credit for how she’s handled this,” Schwartz said. “And I’m certain she’ll be taking an enormous amount of flak, not only from students but from faculty.”

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Washington

North Dakota National Guard heading to Washington duty

Published

7 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

North Dakota National Guard heading to Washington duty

BISMARCK — About 60 North Dakota Army National Guard Soldiers will be sent to help the District of Columbia National Guard under a joint task force starting in April.

Most soldiers are from the 131st Military Police Battalion, which is headquartered in Bismarck, according to a release.

The support will be given as part of the effort that began on Aug. 11, when several states activated members of their National Guard to support local and federal law enforcement in Washington under the President Donald Trump’s

executive order 14333,

which declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital.

The support is a federal mission under the command of the D.C. National Guard, which supports civilian agencies and local law enforcement to reduce crime and minimize property damage.

“Safeguarding the citizens, federal workers and elected leaders in our nation’s capital is a matter of national security, and we appreciate these Soldiers volunteering for this important mission,” said North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong in a release. “We know they will represent our state with the skill and professionalism that military leaders everywhere have come to expect from the North Dakota National Guard.”

The battalion is expected to be in Washington for about three months.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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Washington

Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say

Published

2 days ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say

Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.

The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.

According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.

Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.

A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.

Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.

The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.

Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.

Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.

Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.

The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.

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Washington

Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors

Published

3 days ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors

Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.

Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.

Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.

“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”

RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions

House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.

Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.

The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.

“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”

Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.

The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.

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