Police deployed pepper spray at the demonstration Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress swelled in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.
Thousands of protesters gathered near the Capitol, chanting “Free, Free Palestine,” and some tried to block the road ahead of Netanyahu’s speech, the Associated Press reported. Police wearing gas masks block the crowd – who are calling for an end to the war in Gaza killing more than 39,000 Palestiniansaccording to Gaza officials – from approaching the Capitol.
US Capitol Police said on social media that pepper spray was deployed because some members of the public “began to become violent” and failed to obey orders to step back from police lines.
After the protesters were killed by police, they marched across Capitol Hill for several blocks before gathering in front of Union Station, according to the Associated Press. Protesters pulled up one of the giant US flags outside the station. At least one person was arrested, and police again deployed a “chemical agent,” the AP reported, resulting in at least two people being treated for eye effects.
Inside the room, five people were removed from the House Gallery after disrupting Netanyahu’s speech, Capitol Police said online. They were all arrested. According to the Associated Press, the five wore yellow T-shirts that read “Seal the deal now,” a rallying cry urging leaders to make a ceasefire deal to secure free the remaining hostages was arrested by Hamas, but the news agency reported that he did not speak or verbally interrupted the speech.
In his speech, Netanyahu called the anti-war protesters “useful idiots” who he said were being manipulated by Israel’s enemies.
“The protesters who stand with (Hamas), should be ashamed of themselves,” he said.
Moments later, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, held up a sign that said “war criminal” on one side and “guilty of genocide” on the other. She also wears a Palestinian keffiyeh and a pin with a Palestinian flag on it. Tlaib, who has relatives in the West Bank and represents a Michigan district with a large Palestinian population, has been one of Netanyahu’s loudest critics in Congress. they criticized for his comments last year regarding the latest Israel-Hamas war.
Earlier this week, a group of former Israeli security and political officials accused Netanyahu of selfishly prioritizing his own political survival over the fate of the hostages and the security of his country, the region, and even the world, in a letter sent to Congress leaders. .
“We are all pawns in this game of a handful of deciders,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son was among those kidnapped during Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, told CBS News. “Everybody in the area is going through pain and grief and suffering, and enough is enough.”
During the speech, Netanyahu addressed the situation of the hostages. A few family members of the hostages or those they had rescued sat in the crowd.
“I will not rest until all my loved ones come home,” he said. “Entire.”