The UMass men’s basketball game at George Washington in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night was canceled, the team confirmed.
Mayor Muriel Bowser instituted a 6 p.m. curfew at 2:30 p.m. after supporters of Donald Trump occupied the US Capitol steps and stormed the building. Some reached the Senate floor.
The Minutemen are leaving Washington and will travel back to Massachusetts tonight.
“A disappointing time for our country, without a doubt. Obviously our team’s safety is paramount,” UMass Athletic Director Ryan Bamford tweeted. “Appreciate the great leadership from @CoachMattMcCall (UMass coach Matt McCall) and operational genius of @brian13grossman (UMass director of Basketball Operations Brian Grossman) to get our team organized and headed back to the Commonwealth this afternoon.”
UMass sophomore Kolton Mitchell tweeted “(they) really must have ran out of tear gas.. i guess. (shrug emoji).”
Tear gas was used against Black Lives Matter protesters throughout the summer fighting for racial equality.
Mitchell released a video titled “I’ve Had Enough” in early September to address police violence against Black people and the murder of George Floyd of Minneapolis who died after a white police officer pinned him to the ground by kneeling on his neck for nearly 9 minutes on Memorial Day.
The Atlantic 10 will work with both institutions to reschedule the game.
UMass next plays La Salle at home at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.