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Former FBI Director Comey's Convocation Address Interrupted by Protesters

September 22, 2017

Former FBI Director James Comey's convocation address at Howard University on Friday was interrupted repeatedly by student chants and protests.

Comey joined the faculty of Howard in a part-time capacity this fall, filling the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy. He is expected to deliver a series of five lectures in that position over the course of the year.

But on Friday, Comey was shouted over by the students he was addressing. As Comey began his speech to the Howard class of 2021, some students burst into a chorus of black civil rights anthem "We Shall Not Be Moved."

The singing students rose in one section, fists raised in the air in a sign of solidarity. They then proceeded to chanting, including phrases like "I love being black" and "no justice, no peace, no racist police."

The interruption proceeded for more than five minutes, according to NBC's Monica Alba. At one point Comey asked, "can we give this another shot?"

"I hope you’ll stay and listen to what I have to say. I’ve listened to you for five minutes," Comey told the protesters.

But, after it became clear that protesters would not stop, Comey proceeded to deliver his speech over their chanting.

"I love the enthusiasm of the young folks, I just wish they would understand what a conversation is. A conversation is where you speak and I listen, and then I speak and you listen," he said. "And then we go back and forth and back and forth. And at the end of a conversation, we're both smarter. I am here at Howard to try to get smarter, to try to be useful."