House Republicans have returned and restored a U.S. flag outside Union Station that was taken down and burned during a demonstration on Wednesday in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
Protesters calling for Netanyahu’s arrest took down and burned the national flag outside Union Station on Wednesday, replacing it with a smaller Palestinian flag. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) reposted a video of him reciting the Pledge of Allegiance outside Union Station after House Republicans raised a new U.S. flag at Columbus Circle.
“Earlier this morning, pro-Hamas protesters took down and burned an American flag at Union Station and raised a Palestinian flag. Tonight we righted their wrong. The American flag will once again fly at Union Station. We will not let this terrorist mob win,” Johnson wrote. Social media platform X.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) posted a video of lawmakers raising the American flag outside a train station just a few blocks from the Capitol. The flag took a while to raise because protesters “disconnected,” but D.C. police helped by providing zip ties, he said.
“Earlier today, terrorist sympathizers ripped up and burned the American flag at Union Station and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. After tonight’s vote, a group of lawmakers, including many military veterans and the Speaker of the House, reclaimed and raised our flag,” Crenshaw said. I wrote it to X.
A U.S. Park Police captain confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that two of the three flags had been taken down from poles outside Union Station. Video posted online showed protesters chanting slogans as the U.S. flag was burned.
Washington Metropolitan Police said six protesters were arrested at the scene on Wednesday. At least five protesters were arrested in the House of Representatives gallery while Netanyahu was speaking, and five more were arrested during a demonstration on Constitution Avenue.
The protest came as Netanyahu spoke in parliament later that afternoon, condemning protesters who had gathered outside his speech and those who demonstrated on university campuses earlier this year, saying his critics stood “with evil” and should be “ashamed.”
