Jesse Jackson out of hospital after Howard University fall

CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson was released Tuesday from a Washington, D.C. hospital a day after falling and hitting his head while helping Howard University students who are protesting campus living conditions, according to a spokesman.

Jackson, 80, left Howard University Hospital after an overnight stay and was back at the university working with students, Jackson spokesman Frank Watkins said.

Various tests including a CT scan came back normal on Monday, but hospital officials wanted Jackson, who has Parkinson’s disease, to stay for observation, according to a news release from Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition in Chicago.

Jackson was attending a meeting Monday with Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick and the students, who were discussing their concerns about living conditions. The civil rights leader entered a campus building, fell and hit his head.

Jackson has been hospitalized two other times this year. In August, he was hospitalized for a breakthrough COVID-19 infection, which was followed by weeks of in-patient physical therapy as COVID-19 affected his Parkinson’s and his ability to walk and talk. He also underwent gallbladder surgery earlier in the year.