BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- Students from four Washington, D.C. universities protested the federal takeover of local law enforcement, with initial demonstrations at Georgetown and Howard universities.
- An editorial in Georgetown's student newspaper claimed Trump's actions are based on 'unsupported claims of reducing crime in the city.'
- Over the weekend, Howard University leaders offered counseling to anyone feeling anxious after federal law enforcement arrested a student.
Students at four Washington, D.C. universities planned to walk out of their classes today in protest of the federal government’s takeover of city law enforcement.
Students at Georgetown University were the first to protest in the morning, followed by those at Howard University. Protests at George Washington and American universities are scheduled for later in the day, WUSA 9 reports.
“From Palestine to Mexico, all these laws have got to go,” a small crowd of students chanted at Georgetown.
Over the weekend, the editors of Georgetown’s student newspaper, The Hoya, published an editorial urging their Catholic campus to “resist federal intimidation.”
The student editors said President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to D.C. in August was based on “unsupported claims of reducing crime in the city.”
“This takeover is both unnecessary and expensive. President Trump characterized D.C. as having been overrun by ‘bloodthirsty criminals’ to justify the federal takeover as a public safety emergency,” they wrote.
Sunrise Movement, a progressive nonprofit focused on climate change and “racial and economic justice,” helped to organize the protest.
In a statement, the nonprofit described the situation as a “moment of crisis.” It called on university administrators to “fight” for students “by resisting cooperation with Trump’s goons every step of the way.”
The Sunrise Movement also urged U.S. Congress to “refuse to extend Trump’s takeover of our city.”
“As we return to school, our city is under attack— Trump has sent the military to patrol our streets and ICE to take away our loved ones. But in this moment of crisis, DC students are rising together,” the nonprofit stated.
Trump’s emergency order is scheduled to end Wednesday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress has not received a request to extend the order, according to the report.
However, “the administration hasn’t put an end date on the surge of federal law enforcement and National Guard troop deployment,” CNN reports.
So far, federal officers “have made more than 2,000 arrests in the last month and recovered more than 200 firearms” in D.C., according to WUSA 9.
At least one arrest involved a student from Howard University last week.
In a statement Saturday, the university brought up the arrest in connection to the broader tension among some students about federal law enforcement in the city.
“The Office of Student Affairs is working to contact the students involved and has already been in touch with the family of the detained student,” the university stated.
“We realize that this situation, as well as the heightened federal law enforcement presence across Washington, D.C., has created both concern and anxiety among many students and their families,” it stated.
The university asked any students involved in an encounter with law enforcement to contact its public safety office. It also offered counseling services due to the “stressful and emotionally taxing” environment in the city.
