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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

Picturing Politics: NPS clears homeless encampment at McPherson Square

A+pair+of+National+Park+Service+employees+stand+in+hazmat+suits+at+McPherson+Square+as+they+clear+out+the+houseless+encampment+Wednesday+morning.+
Allison Robbert | Staff Photographer
A pair of National Park Service employees stand in hazmat suits at McPherson Square as they clear out the houseless encampment Wednesday morning.

The National Park Service cleared an encampment at McPherson Square Wednesday, where 56 people lived in one of the largest unhoused communities in D.C.

The crews, who were initially slated to come at the end of April, gave residents a two-week notice before clearing out the space and scattered belongings left behind. NPS spokesman Mike Litterst said the eviction plans were expedited because of a “concern for health and safety.”

Over at the White House, John Kirby, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, responded to a barrage of questions Friday about the unidentified flying object that military personnel shot down over frozen waters near Alaska, less than a week after a U.S. fighter jet took down a Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean.

An abandoned chair sits in McPherson Park Wednesday morning as NPS workers in hazmat suits work to clear out the encampment, formerly home to 56 people. (Allison Robbert | Staff Photographer)
John Kirby gazes out to a crowd of media personnel in the Press Briefing Room Friday. (Allison Robbert | Staff Photographer)
A press scrum gathers at the White House Friday. (Allison Robbert | Staff Photographer)
A member of the press sleeps in the Cannon Rotunda Monday. (Allison Robbert | Staff Photographer)
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