Many in the area are concerned about friends, family and coworkers still in Egypt.
The Washington Post's Cairo bureau chief and a photographer were among dozens of journalists arrested in Egypt Thursday.
Meanwhile, Ellen Passel is worried about her 27-year-old son, Jake, who plans to stay in Cairo, where's he's been studying at the American University for the past year, unless the protests there get worse.
"I think if I have to leave in the next few days it will only be for a short while and I’ll be able to come back," he told NBC Washington.
Ellen Passel, of Arlington, talks to her son on the phone regularly, though sometimes it can take all day for a call to go through. When she can, she lobbies for Jake to return home as soon as possible.
Mohamed Shameseldin's eyes welled up when he talked about watching his homeland fall apart. He said the protests have to stop.
"This is not the Egyptian people that I know," he said.
Alexandria's Hossam Mansour, of Alexandria, was born in Egypt and said a friend has died in the unrest.
Since the protests started in Egypt, Mansour has been organizing peaceful protests in Washington. The next -- and largest -- is scheduled for Saturday at noon. Protesters will march from the Egyptian Embassy to the White House.
