The protest lasted for about an hour, and featured repeated chants of "Free D.C." and "Free Howard," along with other chants in support of resistance.

"America is not living up to its original ideal of freedom and freedom of speech, freedom of expression, et cetera," said Funmilayo Coates, a freshman at Howard who was among the group of students who took the bullhorn to speak. "I don't see how a military occupation will make anyone feel safe."

The Howard protest coincided with demonstrations at other schools around the city, including at George Washington University and American University, whose students protested the law enforcement surge.

Another freshman who attended was Landon Sirls, of Silver Spring, Maryland.

"I was coming in kind of expecting something. But what happened recently is kind of wild," he said.

Sirls and his classmates were allowed to walk out of class to view the protest. While he admits the deployment has also seen a reduction in crime, he doesn't necessarily feel safer.

"You gotta admit, there's some ups, but there's always a lot of downs that come with that stuff," Sirls said. "And I feel like, for the most part, I don't know how safe I feel walking around certain streets on the campus with certain people patrolling it all the time."

Senior Kai'lin Merriweather said she was hoping for a bigger turnout, not just to make a point to President Donald Trump's administration, but to the leaders at Howard University as well.

"There really needs to be more unity in the school, because I feel the administration will ignore this," she said. "They only care about their image, and if it's not making a very big impact, they're not going to pay attention to it."

Merriweather lamented the fact that her friends aren't willing to go outside the way they were before the surge in federal troops in the District.

"It's just causing more harm to good," she added. "It's just clearly a tactic to show power over the people here and stuff like that. Like, literally, it's not contributing to anything besides that."

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.