Pro-Palestinian Protest Calling For Cease-Fire Erupts Outside DNC Headquarters
Police evacuated the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., after a pro-Palestinian protest erupted in front of the building on Wednesday evening.
Members of the progressive groups IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace Action and the Democratic Socialists of America gathered with others outside the headquarters for a vigil calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, which has raged for more than a month.
The U.S. Capitol Police said on X (formerly Twitter) that a crowd of approximately 150 people were “illegally and violently protesting” in front of the headquarters on Wednesday. Officers evacuated members of the DNC from the building. Protesters were cleared out of the area by about 10 p.m.
In a statement Thursday morning, the Capitol Police said that officers got physical after the crowd failed to obey orders to move back.
“When the group moved dumpsters in front of the exits, pepper sprayed our officers and attempted to pick up the bike rack, our teams quickly introduced consequences – pulling people off the building, pushing them back, and clearing them from the area, so we could safely evacuate the Members [of Congress] and staff,” the police said.
Six officers were treated for injuries, including from pepper spray and getting punched, the police said. A 24-year-old from New York was arrested after allegedly slamming an officer into a garage door and punching an officer in the face.
“We have handled hundreds of peaceful protests, but last night’s group was not peaceful,” Capitol Police said.
IfNotNow spokesperson Eva Borgwardt told reporters Thursday that she didn’t see anyone move a dumpster in front of an exit, and that organizers saw only police using pepper spray, not demonstrators. Multiple organizers said that police did not order demonstrators to disperse before they got violent.
“The moment that a dispersal order was given the police had all the tools that they needed to peacefully and to non violently and safely remove protesters,” organizer Jessica Rosenberg told HuffPost. “And instead they chose to push people and shove people and hit and pepper spray.”
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) tweeted that the evacuation happened after “pro-terrorism, anti-Israel protests grew violent,” claiming that protesters pepper-sprayed officers and tried to break into the building, echoing similar statements on CNN later that evening.
Semafor reporter David Weigel, who was reporting outside the protest, said in a tweet that the demonstrators did not try to enter the building and instead had their backs turned to the entrance to block it off.
In a statement Wednesday night, IfNotNow said that Sherman spread “dangerous and reckless misinformation” about the nonviolent protest, adding that police officers were the ones who responded violently to the gathering.
“The protest at the DNC was a nonviolent, moral act of civil disobedience to call on Democrats to support a ceasefire and an end to our government’s funding of violence against Palestinian civilians by Netanyahu’s far-right government,” the American Jewish group said in a statement, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
Another Democrat in the building, Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), said that demonstrators should not have blocked doors.
“You have the Constitutional right to peaceably assemble and protest,” Casten wrote on social media.
“But blocking all entries to a building with multiple members of Congress in it, protected by Capitol Police officers who have lived through January 6 is putting you and other innocent people at risk,” he added, referring to the 2021 Capitol riot.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) slammed the protesters in a statement Thursday morning, characterizing them as “pro-Hamas.”
“Last night, pro-Hamas protesters outside the U.S. Capitol violently attacked the Democratic National Committee headquarters,” Johnson said. “I condemn this criminal activity, which injured six brave Capitol Police officers, in the strongest terms.”
Video footage posted to X by IfNotNow shows protesters linking arms and singing in front of the building. In a second video posted later that night, two protesters are seen being pushed down the stairs by police officers. Additional footage shows police shoving protesters, who continue chanting “Let Gaza live!” and “Cease-fire now!”
“Tonight, hundreds of peaceful anti-war activists came to the DNC to call for an end to bombs and violence in order to save Palestinian and Israeli lives. They were met with brutal assaults by the police,” Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, said in a statement obtained by HuffPost. “The Democrats need to decide: will they stand on the side of peace and justice, or will they continue to support war and genocide?”
The protest outside DNC headquarters reflects similar events held across the country urging lawmakers to press for a cease-fire. It follows a large March for Israel rally Tuesday in Washington against antisemitism, NBC News reported.
Organizers of Wednesday’s protest had also staged an October demonstration inside a Capitol office building in which 300 people were arrested, though Capitol Police did not describe that protest as violent.
President Joe Biden said last week that he sees “no possibility” of Israel stopping its military attacks on the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
The war began with a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, in which an estimated 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage. Since then, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Earlier this month, Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian pause to the war. Following Hamas’ initial attack last month, Biden vowed the U.S. would support Israel, and he has not urged the longtime U.S. ally to stop its attacks, despite growing calls for a cease-fire and the rising Palestinian death toll.
