About 200 people were arrested Tuesday during a pro-Palestinian protest in a congressional building the day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address lawmakers.
The demonstration, which took place in the Cannon House Office Building, was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace.
U.S. Capitol Police said they warned protesters, who were chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, before the arrests began that demonstrating in the building was unlawful.
No one appeared to resist arrest. Capitol Police lightly tapped protesters on the shoulder to stand up, arrested them with white zip ties and escorted them out of the building slowly.
Stefanie Fox, the executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said Netanyahu’s coming address to a joint meeting of Congress was the reason for the protest.
“For nine months, we’ve watched in horror as the Israeli government has carried out a genocide, armed and funded by the US. Congress and the Biden administration have the power to end this horror today. Instead, our president is preparing to meet with Netanyahu and Congressional leadership has honored him with an invitation to address Congress,” Fox said in a statement.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who was watching the protesters get arrested from the third floor, later told NBC News that the protest was “an embarrassment.”
“You know, frankly, these folks continue to spew pro-Hamas talking points, continue to spew anti-American, anti-Israel hatred,” Lawler said, adding that “many of them don’t seem to recognize the irony that if they were actually in Gaza, Hamas would very likely kill them.”
Mitchell Rivard, chief of staff for Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said in a statement that his office was forced to call Capitol Police for assistance because the protesters were “violently beating on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force entry into the office.”
“The U.S. Capitol Police and Sergeant at Arms responded immediately to the incident and have made several arrests. Congressman Kildee is safe and his staff are all accounted for,” Rivard added.
