OAN’s Abril Elfi
2:50 PM – Thursday, November 16, 2023
Authorities have clashed with protestors demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas-Gaza conflict outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
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On Wednesday, law enforcement arrested hundreds of protesters demanding a cease-fire in the Hamas-Israel war outside the DNC Washington headquarters.
According to authorities, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Representative Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) were among those inside the headquarters as the clash between protesters and police sparked.
United States Capitol Police said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that a “large group of illegal protesters…have cleared out, but USCP officers will stay on scene out of an abundance of caution.”
They previously put the number of demonstrators at about 150 and said they were “violently protesting in the area.”
Six officers were treated for injuries as a result of the demonstration, and one person was arrested and accused of assault on an officer, Capitol Police said on X.
According to Capitol Police, all lawmakers were evacuated from the location for their protection.
IfNotNow, an organization that bills itself as “American Jews organizing our community to end U.S. support for Israel’s apartheid system,” stated it was present at the rally and accused officers of being harsh toward protestors.
IfNotNow spokesperson Eva Borgwardt released a statement saying the protest was “nonviolent” and a “moral act of civil disobedience to call on Democrats to support a cease-fire and an end to our government’s funding of violence against Palestinian civilians by Netanyahu’s far-right government.”
Representative Sean Casten (D-Ill.), posted on X that he was “rescued” from the DNC building by “armed officers” who “did not know the protestors’ intent; they knew only that Members of Congress were inside, could not leave and that protests would not let police through.”
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