Officials at Howard University are investigating a break-in to one of its shuttered buildings on its East Campus in D.C., after a video showing the intrusion and vandalism went viral.
The video posted to Instagram has since been taken down, but it showed a group of people breaking into Benjamin E. Mays Hall at 14th and Shepherd streets in Northeast.
The building housed the university’s School of Divinity until 2015.
The video showed the group entering the boarded-up hall. Once inside, the intruders could be seen rummaging through old books and files — even activating a fire extinguisher.
Dean of Howard University School of Divinity Kenyatta Gilbert said in a statement, “We take this incident of trespassing very seriously and the Howard University Department of Public Safety (DPS) has already begun investigating the matter.”
The university also said patrols will now increase in the area as well.
In 2017, the university began plans to redevelop the area. Most recently, it started collaborating with the D.C. Preservation League to designate the East Campus as a historic landmark district.
A map of the area where the vandalism happened is below.
