More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating and three people were charged with assaulting police after protesters descended on Capitol Hill to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
More than 300 people were arrested for illegally demonstrating and three people were charged with assaulting police after protesters descended on Capitol Hill to call for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
Hundreds of demonstrators from Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building on Wednesday. They wore shirts that read “Jews say cease fire now” and they chanted “let Gaza live” and “not in my name” before they were detained by Capitol Police.
Demonstrations are not allowed inside Capitol buildings, and police said they warned the crowd gathered in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building to stop before they began making the arrests.
The 305 people arrested for illegally demonstrating were subsequently released and those charged with assault were held in custody pending an appearance before a judge.
A few liberal members of Congress have been pushing for a resolution in the latest Hamas-Israel war, saying that Israeli bombardment of civilians in Gaza is leading to a humanitarian crisis.
The protesters were never in the U.S. Capitol, as some falsely stated on social media.
According to a report, Hundreds were arrested Wednesday after pro-Palestinian protests broke out on Capitol Hill, with demonstrators flooding into the Cannon House Office Building and large crowds gathering with flags and signs around the Capitol complex.
The Cannon House Office Building holds several House Committee and congressional offices. By 2:30 p.m., its rotunda was full of protestors singing and chanting “ceasefire now” and “free Palestine.”
U.S. Capitol Police put out an alert about the demonstrations, saying the activity was not allowed inside Congressional buildings. They worked for hours to clear the crowd that had grown inside. Police say they arrested about 300 people in total.
The detained protesters were lined up outside the building and shuttled to a temporary holding area in the Capitol complex. Capitol Police say demonstrators inside the Cannon Rotunda will be charged with illegally protesting inside a House Office Building.
They say among the arrests, three people were charged with assault on a police officer during processing.
USCP monitored the situation as more protesters gathered around the House side of the Capitol Complex through the afternoon and evening hours. For safety, they set up temporary rolling road closures and only allowed Capitol staff and employees to enter and exit in certain areas.
The protest began on the National Mall around noon and eventually made its way to the Cannon building, which is situated at Independence Ave. and New Jersey Ave. adjacent to the Capitol building.
Fencing went up overnight around parts of the U.S. Capitol ahead of the protest organized by the group Jewish Voice for Peace but the demonstrators were able to work their way into the building and by 3 p.m., it was packed with JVP members in black t-shirts reading “Jews say ceasefire now!”
JVP claimed on social media that at least 10,000 people were outside the Capitol while 500 made their way inside the rotunda, all there to “challenge the Israeli government’s ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
After the demonstrations on Capitol Hill fizzled, another popped up in the evening hours outside the Israeli Embassy in Northwest. Barriers surrounded the embassy and a line of police stood between it and the crowd pocked with the red, black, white and green of the Palestinian flag.
As the protests unfolded, President Joe Biden was in Israel. He flew to the embattled country Tuesday to begin a series of talks with Israeli, Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders.
