Demonstrators made up of students wearing black masks and head wraps known as keffiyehs marched into the main lobby of the Mordecai Wyatt Johnson Administration building Monday afternoon chanting allegations that Howard has links to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The 40-minute occupation, which followed a “Vigil for the Martyrs” held earlier on The Yard, served to mark the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s attacks on innocent Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza, of which roughly 42,000 have since been killed, according to Al Jazeera. Monday also marked one year since Hamas killed roughly 1,100 innocent Israelis, which spurred the year-long conflict.
The protest was conducted in an attempt to hold the university accountable for its affiliation to companies and U.S. federal departments that allegedly aid Israel in these attacks. Students chanted “…from the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever. HU, you can’t hide, you are funding genocide.”
The vigil that led to the protest was held by the Howard Revolutionary Community, who posted about the vigil on their social media.
The Hilltop requested to speak with five student protestors, all of whom declined to comment, some stating that protestors would not be speaking. Howard’s Assistant Vice President of Strategic Communications Cedric Mobley also declined to comment.
Flyers were passed out at the vigil stating “Howard Funds Genocide,” listing the university’s alleged ties with companies who were purported to be supporting Israel, and mentioning Howard’s partnerships with companies such as military weapon systems creator, Lockheed Martin.
Flyers suggested that Lockheed Martin has been “enlisting” College of Engineering and Architecture (CEA) students. Lockheed Martin has a partnership with the Thurgood Marshall Fund (TMCF) and Howard, providing financial aid to students. This partnership also involves other “TMCF-member” HBCUs, according to the TMCF website.
The CEA Board of Visitors also has a member who is the vice president of human resources for Lockheed Martin’s missiles and fire controls. No other information was found to support the claims made on the flyers passed around.
The Department of Defense (DoD) Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning at Howard was also mentioned, along with the claim that Howard’s board of trustees is run by “war profiteers,” which was not substantiated by evidence.
Protestors originally were chanting on the steps of the administration building and proceeded to transition inside to the main lobby, where they held up a banner that said “Howard Uni Funds Genocide” and had three protestors lay down in the entrance of the lobby, covered by white cloths with red stains, to symbolize the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.
Campus security began to block all main entrance doors to stop other students from entering the building and the elevators were shut off. Once finished, some protestors escorted themselves out through the main entrance.
During the protest, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was called. Antony Coleman, a sergeant for MPD, said they received a call after being told that campus security needed assistance with some protestors. They responded with 28 officers and four sergeants.
“Turns out the response was not needed, it was already handled before we got here, but we still respond to calls,” he said.
The DoD artificial intelligence center, sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, and led by the university, is focused on “tactical autonomy,” an area “central to the U.S. Security” according to the Department of Defense. The center said the university will receive at least $60 million over five years to fund the research, faculty and students.
The U.S. has given military aid to Israel that adds up to $17.9 billion since Oct. 7 of 2023, along with $4.86 billion to “step up U.S. military operations in the region,” according to PBS News.
Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau
