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Welcome to Monday, D.C. Prepare yourselves for the first 90-degree day of the year. Here’s the news you might have missed while you were frolicking through Project GLOW’s Secret Garden all weekend.

Police Show Restraint Despite University’s Request

D.C.-area students and activists have set up an encampment on George Washington University’s campus to protest the war in Gaza. As of this morning, the demonstration is stretching into its fifth day. 

The Metropolitan Police Department refused GW’s request to clear the protesters Friday morning, the Washington Post reports. The Post cites senior leaders at MPD and the mayor’s office who ordered officers to stand down over concern about the optics of arresting peaceful protesters. 

The encampment on GW’s University Yard comes as students are staging similar demonstrations on college campuses throughout the country, some of which have resulted in clashes between local police and protesters. Police have arrested more than 800 people during these demonstrations. The total includes 12 people, nine of whom are students, who were arrested at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, according to the New York Times.

On Friday night, GW suspended seven students who helped organize the demonstration and charged them each with nine violations. The students are at risk of losing their housing, GW Hatchet reports.

According to the Hatchet, on Sunday a student jumped over one of the barricades that police had erected to prevent more people from entering the encampment. The student was escorted out of the encampment by GWPD officers. GW says in a media release that the student was not arrested. After the student was released, 200 protesters dismantled the metal barriers that police had erected around the encampment and threw them in a pile.

More than 100 tents remained on University Yard and on H Street NW Monday, April 29, according to the Hatchet, which is the last day of class at GW for the spring semester. To hear from some of the students and activists, read City Paper contributor Audrey Hill’s Friday evening account: 

D.C. Area Students Set Up an Anti-Genocide Encampment at George Washington University Yard

Students from George Washington and a number of other universities across the D.C. area set […]

Bus-ted

A Metrobus crashed into a tree Friday night at North Capitol and L streets NE. Three riders were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. MPD is investigating.

Violence at Nightlife Spots Throughout the Weekend

A man opened fire after he was kicked out of Decades nightclub in Dupont Circle Friday night, injuring six people, including a security guard. The victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries. 

D.C. police say the incident stemmed from a dispute on the street after the man, 29-year-old Rennwel Mantock, was removed from the club. He has been arrested and charged with assault with intent to kill, and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Decades closed its doors Saturday and Sunday, according to a post on the club’s Instagram, but plans to reopen this weekend.

About two hours later and roughly a mile away, a man was shot and killed inside Desperados Burgers & Bar on U Street NW. MPD spokesperson Tom Lynch tells the Post that the victim, Kenneth Goins, was shot multiple times inside the bar. No arrest had been made as of Saturday evening.

And at around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Martin Gross Jr. was stabbed to death outside Audi Field, about an hour after the D.C. United match against the Seattle Sounders.

MPD arrested 49-year-old Wali Shabazz and charged him with second-degree murder. Police have said the stabbing was “the result of a workplace dispute.”

—Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Confessions from Nerd Prom: Tony P, the TikToker who posts about his life as a single 20-something in D.C., says he would have voted for Paul Ryan in 2012 if he was old enough. [Post]
• A toddler was found wandering the 1700 block of S Street SE last night around 11:30 p.m. After a few hours of searching for his family, police say the boy was reunited with a guardian around 8 a.m. Monday. [WUSA9]
• D.C.’s School Without Walls is bracing for a $235,000 funding gap that could result in the loss of its theater and Chinese programs. The school’s only theater teacher, Lea Zaslavsky, was notified six weeks ago that her position would be cut; at least one other teaching position is expected to be cut. [GW Hatchet]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Democrats for Education Reform’s D.C. chapter endorsed attorney Veda Rasheed in the crowded Ward 7 Council primary. The move could have huge ripple effects in the race if the influential pro-charter group chooses to back up its endorsement with the sort of big spending that has dominated other Council races over the past few election cycles. [DFER, X]
• Anacostia Riverkeeper Trey Sherard says Mayor Muriel Bowser’s budget would raid $1.8 million from programs he manages, endangering free boat rides and trash collection efforts. Worse yet, the money largely comes from a tax on plastic bags specifically designed to fund these programs. [WTOP]
• Bowser’s budget also includes $5.25 million to fund D.C.’s hosting of the World Pride celebration in 2025, alongside a bunch of other programs for LGBTQIA people. However, the city’s efforts to fight HIV/AIDS are set to see a cut thanks to a loss of federal funding. [Blade]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)