Washington DC The United States Park Police union released a statement explaining why few arrests were made in the incident Wednesday at Columbus Circle when an American flag was torn down and set on fire and a statue of Christopher Columbus was defaced with pro-Hamas graffiti.
Park Police were only able to make nine arrests out of the hundreds of people who rioted outside Union Station, within sight of the Capitol building, a result the Fraternal Order of Police (USPP) said was due to only 29 officers assigned to Columbus Circle, and the union blamed overall staffing shortages.
The riots were sparked by people taking part in demonstrations against a speech to parliament by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Yesterday was a big mistake.”
“Officers on the scene did everything in their power to protect lives and property, and in fact made a few arrests despite only 29 officers available to mitigate the situation, with no additional support from the Department of the Interior. … That is why it is so disheartening to hear some lawmakers and media members who call themselves law enforcement ‘champions’ say officers are ‘overlooking’ protesters or that there are not enough arrests,” USPP FOP Chairman Kenneth Spencer wrote.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who really tries to understand the issue knows that a lack of police personnel is at the root of police preparedness…. There were no personnel or resources to carry out a mass arrest operation,” Spencer continued.
Spencer also accused the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service of “obstructing” the passage of modernization legislation that he believes would help address the personnel shortage. “If Congress wants to ensure a more effective law enforcement response to incidents like what happened yesterday, it needs to pass modernization legislation this year,” Spencer’s statement concluded.
A source within the Washington DC police force agreed: “Yesterday was a huge blunder.”
Capitol Police were present near Columbus Circle along with police from neighboring jurisdictions, but only the Park Police attempted to stop the American flag from being burned, with other police eventually assisting the Park Police after they withdrew from the crowd.
Park Police officers were able to save one of the flags, but the other two flying outside Union Station were pulled down and burned, after which an anti-American crowd planted a Palestinian flag on a flagpole.
After the anti-Netanyahu demonstrations ended and the evening’s parliamentary vote was concluded, Republican lawmakers, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), replaced the American flag at Columbus Circle.
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