Capitol Police charge against pro-Palestinian demonstration in Washington DC

2023-11-16 06:57:05

The United States Capitol Police charged tonight against a pro-Palestinian protest that was taking place next to the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, and detained several of the participants.

The incidents caused the House office buildings to be closed for security.

While several congressmen who were at the headquarters, as well as the police themselves, stressed on social networks that the protest was violent and there are some videos of confrontations between the two parties, also circulating numerous images of protesters being displaced by agents and forcibly moved while peacefully protesting.

In a statement on

One of the videos that circulated on social networks, and that several Republican congressmen used to denounce the insecurity caused by these protesters, They show numerous participants in the protest trying to resist at the doors of the CND headquarters while they are forcibly moved by the police.

(AP)

Other images show the confrontation between the two parties on the stairs of the building, which ended with several arrests.

There are also images of another moment of the protest, much more peaceful, in which the participants sing while they are displaced from the area by a police cordon without resisting.

In a message on X, Democratic Congressman Sean Casten confirmed that it had been evacuated by the police after blocking the protesters the entrances to the building, and asked them not to do anything “irresponsible.”

Republicans such as Andy Barr or Anna Paulina Luna, for their part, harshly criticized the “violent and anti-Semitic” protest that was preventing them from leaving their offices.

(AP)

The protest occurred on the same day that 24 United States congressmen, all from the Democratic Party, demanded a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and urged the White House to adopt this position.

“We express our deep concern about the escalation of the war in Gaza, especially the grave violations against children, and our fear that without an immediate cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a robust bilateral ceasefirethis war will cause a greater loss of civilian life,” they stated in a letter addressed to the president, Joe Biden.

Led by New York legislator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the legislators also warned “of the risk of dragging the United States into a dangerous and reckless conflict with armed groups throughout the Middle East.”