Speaker Johnson Credits Comer for George Washington University Cleanup

(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., credited House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., for forcing Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to allow police to evict on-campus anti-Israel protesters and restore order at George Washington University.

Police began to clear a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the university early Wednesday, hours after dozens of protesters left the site and marched to President Ellen Granberg’s home.

Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith were set to testify about the district’s handling of the protest at a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing Wednesday afternoon, but Comer canceled the hearing after the police cleared the protest.

“Last week, we announced a House-wide crackdown on antisemitism on college campuses,” Johnson said in a statement. “This week, Chairman Comer and the Oversight Committee delivered results by compelling Mayor Bowser to order police to clear the weeks-long, pro-Hamas and illegal encampments around George Washington University’s campus.

“While it should not require threatening to haul D.C.’s mayor before Congress to keep Jewish students at George Washington University safe, I applaud Chairman Comer’s steadfast leadership.

“Through the House-wide effort to crack down on antisemitism, we are going to learn why security forces and campus administrators have refused to do their first job: keeping students safe.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.