Congress is escalating its involvement in a wave of pro-Palestinian protests, scheduling another hearing and a visit to a local encampment that has drawn national attention after a confrontation at Columbia University involving police and clashes among student demonstrators.
With increasingly turbulent demonstrations reported nationwide and university leaders looking to wrest back control of their campuses, members of the House Oversight Committee are set to visit George Washington University in the nation’s capital Wednesday afternoon. Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the committee’s chairperson, signaled his intention to ask the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department why it has not completed the school’s request to clear the area.
Comer earlier announced he would hold a hearing next week on the same subject.
The committee will “seek answers from local leaders on steps being taken to ensure this unlawful activity ends,” Comer said. Members are expected to call D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith to testify on May 8.
Pro-Palestinian Student Protests
The request for testimony comes after Comer and the House Committee on Education and Labor Chairperson Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina sent the mayor and police chief a letter demanding answers on the matter.
The hearing will be the first in a long series of hearings held thus far that does not call in college administration officials. Previous panels included Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, Harvard President Claudine Gay and former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill.
The quick actions from Congress came just hours after the New York Police Department, at the behest of Shafik, entered the campus to clear out an encampment and a student-occupied campus building, Hamilton Hall. Columbia administrators had already threatened to expel student participants who did not stand down.
Clad in riot uniforms and tactical gear, police arrested an estimated 282 people Tuesday evening – 109 at Columbia and 173 at the neighboring City College of New York.
Members of Congress spent the morning responding to the escalation at Columbia, with many criticizing Shafik’s decision while others seemed to cheer on the response.
At one California university, clashes broke out between counterprotesters and protesters, prompting the police to respond “due to multiple acts of violence.”
Pro-Israeli counterprotesters arrived at the University of California, Los Angeles with music and loudspeakers. Fights broke out, with some demonstrators destroying barriers, setting off fireworks and spraying what appeared to be some sort of chemical irritant. Large projectiles were thrown into the encampments and at least one person was struck with a metal pole. As a result, the university canceled all classes.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, four law enforcement officers were injured during clashes with protesters. Footage showed police pushing back screaming protesters and tearing down tents.
In direct response to the situation at Columbia, students at Fordham University Fordham University formed an encampment. One tent bore the message “SOLIDARITY WITH COLUMBIA AND CCNY.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell weighed in late Wednesday afternoon, calling the chaos “truly stunning” and “not unlike what we’ve seen in the Middle East.”
“These elite schools ought to try controlling their campuses,” he said.
Speaking on the House floor, progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York said, "I've had guns pulled on me multiple times by law enforcement simply for being a Black man in America. And now I see guns being drawn on peaceful protestors at Columbia U."
“That is their rights. They are supposed to push us to stand for what this flag represents,” said Bowman. “Are we in a police state or is this a democracy? We must stand with our young people and demand justice and freedom for Palestinians and everyone in this world."
Within minutes of police stepping foot on the Columbia campus Tuesday evening, Bowman took to social media to say he was “outraged by the level of police presence.”
“I call upon the Columbia administration to stop this dangerous escalation before it leads to further harm,” the New York Democrat added.
In another post, he wrote “These are students. In no world should our kids be met with guns when using their constitutional right to peacefully assemble.”
Fellow progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York echoed similar sentiments on social media.
“If any kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall on the mayor and univ presidents,” she posted. “Other leaders and schools have found a safe, de-escalatory path. This is the opposite of leadership and endangers public safety. A nightmare in the making. I urge the Mayor to reverse course.”
On the other hand, House Speaker Mike Johnson likened the student protesters to “common criminals.”
“These kids who are out of control like this need to be dealt with like the common criminals that they are,” Johnson told Fox News.
Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York, a staunch critic of the protests, wrote that the demonstrations were not activities that are "protected by the First Amendment.”
“These are crimes punishable by law,” he said.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer seemed to praise the decision to call in police.
“You cannot expect to break the law and campus rules without repercussions. Accountability is here," he posted on social media.
As protests grow in numbers at colleges and universities across the country, additional punishments from Republican lawmakers could be imminent.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairperson Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said her panel, which oversees federal agencies that give out taxpayer-funded research grants, will be looking at universities for violations of the Civil Rights Act.
In addition, Judiciary Committee Chairperson Jim Jordan of Ohio said his panel will be scrutinizing the visas of students engaged in what he called antisemitic “radical activity” and raising questions with the State Department over whether those visas should be revoked.
