March 2018

#huresist

On the 30th of March, students at Howard University occupied the main administration building at 2400 6th st. The adminstration attempted without succcess to get them out by turning off the HVAC and letting the building become quite hot inside. Demands included housing for all students under 21, stopping tuition hikes, disarming the Howard University Police, sacking the university President and many more.

Update Apr 6: Administration agrees to 7 of the 9 original demands, occupation ends in victory-protest WORKS!

Update Apr 4 8PM: Progress reported in negotiations, students at press conference report far more Howard Trustees now attending the negotiations. Emphasis on "transparency" as an overall demand

Update Apr 3 4:20PM: This is now the longest occupation in HU history

Update Apr 2 2:22PM: HU Trustee Rock Newman grabs at WUSA Cameraman's camera(this is assault)Rock Newman's video originally posted to twitter

Update April 2 2:10PM: Police attack does not materialize, occupation holding strong. Students rename Admin building Kwame Ture Student Center

Update April 1 10:30PM: Calm for the moment, no cops after earlier police buildup, and fears of forcible eviction if 9PM meeting w Board of Trustees went badly. Students chanted as board members entered, Trustees promised not to use violence to clear the building. Worries that MPD will be quietly told to do exactly that, followed by denials of responsibility. Watch this promise!

Update April 1 2PM: University agrees to one demand, extends housing deposit deadline to May 1. Negotiations with Board of Trustees ongoing, 8 demands to go.

Update March 30 7PM: University President still refusing to meet with students, Board of Trustees doubles down with statement of support for HU President Wayne A.I. Frederick.

Video-students chant and read out their demands inside the Administration building

On the 28th of March, the MD Dept of the Environment (MDE) held a public hearing in Charles County, MD concerning Dominion's proposed fracked gas compressor station. Residents from the area placed at risk by the project and their supporters spoke unanimously against the project. Near the beginning, someone projected scenes of what a potential explosion at the compressor station on the walls of the room. MDE tried to order the projector turned off while the packed room erupted into yelling.

Video-speakers denounce the proposed compressor station

In the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, TV news stations reported on March 26 that by default the Facebook app on Android sends text messages and phone call metadata to Facebook servers. The technology involved was called "scraping" by one computer expert, raising concerns that Facebook may be able to read even encrypted text messages right off the screen.

Update 3-27-2018: Latest report is Facebook is stealing metadata but not content, but that alone means Facebook knows who and when you call and text if you have their app with default settings.

On the 24th of March hundreds of thousands of mostly young students rallied on Penn Ave demanding an end to the massacres in their schools. At the very lead of the entire march was an African-American survivor of the Parkland Massacre and Black Lives Matter DC, which had sucessfully taken the lead position. National Guard trucks in the street looked like Baltimore 2015 or J20.

On the 22nd of March, Code Pink again disrupted an event featuring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This time it was a fancy dinner at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, which attendees had to run a gauntlet of protesters to enter. One of the Code Pink activists got inside before being expelled. The Prince himself found his motorcade jeered by screaming protesters.

Video of Code Pink heckling diners and the Prince's motorcade