Tensions flare at George Washington campus during Republican lawmakers' visit

 

Tensions erupted yesterday at George Washington University’s campus in Washington, DC, between pro-Palestine students and visiting Republican members of the House of Representatives at an encampment site, reported Anadolu Agency.

Amid ongoing demonstrations at universities throughout the US in solidarity with Palestine, Republican representatives James Comer, Byron Donalds, Lauren Boebert, Anna Paulina Luna, and Eric Burlison visited the encampment site on the campus, which has become a focal point of protests in the nation’s capital.

The Republican lawmakers met with the school administration, demanding the removal of a tent camp students had set up for a week.

Later, students reacted strongly to the lawmakers’ presence as they toured the tent camp and its surroundings under heavy security, expressing their opposition to US “complicity” in the Gaza conflict.

Security guards accompanying the representatives occasionally dispersed demonstrators. Meanwhile, other students sang loudly and used megaphones during the representatives’ press conference, calling for support for Gaza.

Republican lawmaker Lauren Boebert removes a Palestinian flag from a student tent.

Pro-Palestine college campus protests have continued across the US since students established an encampment at New York’s Columbia University campus in mid-April.

- BERNAMA