First appeared on FOX: Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is investigating the National Park Service (NPS) over how the pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC on July 24 was allowed.
Despite advance notice and extensive clearance from the left-wing anti-Israel group ANSWER Coalition, the NPS deployed only 29 officers and was vastly outnumbered by the crowd. In contrast, Amtrak police, who provide security at Union Station, significantly increased their staffing and managed the area well, Cruz said in a letter to the NPS on Friday.
“The NPS has been working closely with Hamas since 2007 to determine whether it should take part in the protests, and has not yet reached an agreement with the United States to do so,” the letter said.
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A person spray paints the base of the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain during an anti-Israel protest near the U.S. Capitol as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint session of Congress on July 24, 2024. (Andrew Thomas/AFP via Getty Images)
“This should never have been allowed to happen,” Cruz wrote in the letter, first obtained by Fox News Digital. “The National Park Service (NPS) was notified in advance that a large anti-Israel protest was planned. [Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to parliament, with plenty of time to prepare.”
Additionally, Cruz is seeking details about the ANSWER Coalition’s work, as well as information about what steps the National Park Service took to prepare for possible protests and riots at Columbus Circle, the number of officers deployed, body camera footage of U.S. Park Police officers who responded to the riots, National Park Service after-action reports or similar documents, and information about how the National Park Service worked with local agencies prior to the protests.
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Senator Ted Cruz (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images/File)
Cruz said the National Park Service had left the U.S. Park Police “hopelessly outnumbered.”
“The NPS was negligent in deploying insufficient personnel despite advance notice that the large protests and pro-Hamas demonstrations were likely to become violent,” Cruz wrote. “Although the entire USPP force in the Washington area was deployed, the police department had many other demands and too few USPP officers to respond to the large protests that could potentially become violent, and the Park Police union is unaware of any efforts to deploy additional officers.”
On July 24, anti-Israel activists descended on Washington, DC to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Several monuments and historical sites were defaced and damaged. Activists set fire to an American flag, painted graffiti outside Union Station, and chanted “Allah is great.”
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Activists cheer as they burn the flag and an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an anti-Israel protest near the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
At Union Station, near the US Capitol, agitators burned an American flag, vandalized a statue reading “Here Comes Hamas,” and removed an American flag, replacing it with a Palestinian one.
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Protesters deface the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station on July 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to Congress last month amid the ongoing war with Hamas, which has been escalating since October 7. In his speech, Netanyahu sharply criticized the ceasefire demonstrations that have been taking place across the United States since the war began.
Fox News Digital has reached out to NPS for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
