It’s about time. George Washington University’s pro-Hamas camp was dismantled earlier this morning. Pepper spray had to be deployed during the clashes with activists, which led to over two dozen people being arrested. Law enforcement said that they had credible evidence that these pro-Hamas students were preparing to copy what happened at Columbia University: the seizure of administrative buildings.
The pro-terrorist circus raged for days, though there were some bright spots during the mayhem, like when some folks draped a massive American flag in full view of the pro-Hamas sect. Still, these cretins remained in the tent city on the campus. The protests were getting more volatile, and this police action, while warranted, also came at an interesting time, too (via WaPo) [emphasis mine]:
D.C. police arrested 33 people as they began clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, authorities said, hours before the mayor and police chief were set to testify on Capitol Hill about why they had previously declined to take action.
Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said that starting Thursday, authorities “began to see an escalation in the volatility of the protests” at the school a few blocks west of the White House. She said that a university police officer and a counterdemonstrator were assaulted. On Tuesday night, demonstrators marched to the university president’s residence.
Police moved in shortly after 3 a.m. Authorities said demonstrators clashed with police at least once, and police deployed pepper spray on a public street just outside the encampment. As of about 8:30 a.m., police were still removing tents and had blocked the entrances to University Yard. It could not be determined how many of those arrested were GWU students.
Smith said the decision to clear the encampment was made Monday. Without providing details, she said police had evidence that demonstrators were preparing to occupy a campus building and had amassed items that could be used as weapons. She said they believed counterdemonstrators had infiltrated the camp, and that people from outside the D.C. area were planning to join the group. Police have yet to release the identities of those arrested, and Smith did not immediately reveal what evidence police had to support those beliefs.
But there are no gold stars here. Yes, it’s well that the terrorist camp at GWU was demolished, and some of them got arrested. Still, the optics of a major police action occurring before authorities were set to be grilled over why they allowed a quasi-Hamas propaganda center to emerge is another issue. Then again, if police had evidence that these kids planned a ‘storm the Bastille’ moment, I guess how you can read it as an optics be damned moment. I’m not putting much stock in that until more details emerge.
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