Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) called on the Department of Justice to investigate anti-Israel agitators who vandalized the statue in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., in the same way that it went after rioters who attended the January 6, 2021, Capitol protests.
“Anti-American, pro-Hamas thugs have desecrated a veterans statue directly across from the White House in a clear violation of federal law, which you can see on video,” Cotton said in a post on X-Sunday. “I expect the Department of Justice to use all the same tactics against them as they did against those MAGA hat-wearing grandmas on January 6th, if not now, then next year.”
Cotton’s remarks came as thousands of people flooded the White House on Saturday to protest Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, and marched around the capital, many waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine.”
Anti-Israel firebrand in Hamas headband leaves White House holding up blood-stained Biden mask
The protests started peacefully, but some demonstrators then turned their attention to the statues in Lafayette Square, just outside the White House, vandalizing them with spray paint and graffiti.
Other protesters turned to park rangers active in the area and yelled, “Fascists!” and “Pigs, pigs, boo-boo!” Another man wearing a Hamas headband held up a bloody mask depicting Biden and chanted, “Down with the occupiers, down with them!” while another protester set an American flag on fire.
Cotton likened the incident to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, when thousands of supporters of former President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, many of whom broke through barricades and entered the building.
On June 8, 2024, anti-Israel protesters defaced a statue in Washington, DC. (FNTV)
Additional barricades erected around White House ahead of planned pro-Palestinian demonstrations
Cotton’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Those protests have led to thousands of arrests, with the Justice Department boasting in January that more than 1,265 defendants had been indicted in cases related to the demonstrations.
But no arrests were made at Saturday’s demonstration, Report from NBC NewsPolice said they had attempted to arrest the person who climbed the statue but were unsuccessful due to crowd intervention.
“Anti-American, pro-Hamas thugs desecrated a veterans statue directly across from the White House,” said Senator Tom Cotton. (FNTV)
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Police say they then used pepper spray, allowing the suspect to escape.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
A U.S. Park Police spokesman said anyone with information can help investigate the incident by calling 202-379-4877 or emailing USPP_tipline@nps.gov.
