House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sought to distance Democrats from the large numbers of anti-Israel protesters who rampaged through the nation’s capital on Wednesday, despite the demonstrators’ professed left-wing aims.
Sen. Jeffries (D-N.Y.) emphasized that many of the protesters in recent months have targeted Democrats, but he did not mention that many of the attacks have come from the left.
“I don’t believe that these individuals who have been actively protesting members of the House Democratic Caucus have any ties to the left wing of the Democratic Party,” Rep. Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday.
Some protesters on Wednesday waved Hamas flags and carried anti-Semitic signs, including one praising Hitler’s “Final Solution,” and attempted to breach the security perimeter on the Capitol grounds. At one point, rioters burned an American flag flying at Union Station in Washington, D.C., and replaced it with a Palestinian flag.
“It is unacceptable to desecrate public property, desecrate the American flag, threaten Jewish people with violence, or promote a terrorist organization like Hamas,” Jeffries said. “It is unacceptable, and those who engage in such conduct should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
A group of anti-Israel protesters were caught on video ripping up an American flag, setting it on fire and stomping on it at Union Station.
Mayor Jeffries released a statement early Thursday morning condemning the actions at Union Station, similarly emphasizing that it was “unacceptable under any circumstances.”
On Wednesday night, Republican members of Congress traveled to a train and subway station about a half-mile from the U.S. Capitol to return the burned flag to its original location.
Other shocking acts by anti-Israel provocateurs on Wednesday included at least one Hamas flag spotted just outside the Capitol building and a scourge of maggots and crickets that pro-Palestinian groups claim were released at the Watergate Hotel, where part of the Israeli delegation was staying.
An effigy of a frowning Netanyahu was also burned, and papier-mâché models of President Biden and the prime minister soaked in red paint were paraded through the streets of Washington.
There is Less than 30 Jewish members of the Democratic Conference in both houses of Congress.
Some activists on Wednesday held signs promoting socialism, and many of the activists The Washington Post spoke to expressed left-leaning political views, though they oppose Biden.
Inside the House of Representatives, while Netanyahu was speaking, Rep. Rashida Tulliab (D-Mich.) of “The Squad” waved a sign that read “War Criminals” on one side and “Guilty of Genocide” on the other.
Jeffries denied seeing Tlaib’s protest during Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of parliament and avoided answering questions about whether the protest was appropriate.
“As far as I understand, I didn’t see Rashida Tlaib’s movement. She was to my left. I was concentrating on the speech and processing the information,” he said.
“Rashida Tlaib was elected as a member of parliament. She is responsible for her constituency just as I am responsible for my constituency,” he later added.
At least six people were arrested following misconduct in the House of Representatives gallery before and after Netanyahu’s speech. According to the U.S. Capitol Police.
Vice President Kamala Harris also condemned the anti-Israel protests on Thursday, voicing support for Hamas.
“I condemn any individuals associated with Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and murder the Jewish people,” she said in a statement.
“The graffiti and speech in support of Hamas is abhorrent and must not be tolerated in our country. I condemn the burning of the American flag. That flag is a symbol of our nation’s highest ideals and represents the promise of America. It should never be desecrated in such a way.”
