Police deployed pepper spray as demonstrations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress swelled in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Thousands of protesters descended on the nation’s capitol, chanting “Free, Free Palestine,” and some tried to block streets ahead of Netanyahu’s speech, the Associated Press reported. Police wearing gas marks blocked the crowd —which was calling for an end to the war in Gaza that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians — from getting closer to the Capitol, the AP said.
The U.S. Capitol Police said on social media that pepper spray was being deployed because some members of the crowd had “started to become violent” and failed to obey an order to move back from the police line.
Part of the crowd has started to become violent at First Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. The crowd failed to obey our order to move back from our police line. We are deploying pepper spray towards anyone trying to break the law and cross that line.
After the protesters were turned away by police, they wound through Capitol Hill for several blocks before gathering in front of Union Station, according to the Associated Press. Demonstrators pulled down one of the giant U.S. flags outside the station. At least one person was arrested, and police again deployed “chemical agents,” the Associated Press reported, causing at least two people to be treated for chemical agent effects on the eyes.
Inside the chamber, five people were also removed from the House Gallery after disrupting Netanyahu’s speech, the Capitol Police said online. All were arrested. According to the Associated Press, the five wore yellow T-shirts reading “Seal the deal now,” a rallying cry calling on leaders to make a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. They did not speak or verbally disrupt the speech, the Associated Press reported.
In his speech, Netanyahu referred to protesters as “useful idiots” who he said were being manipulated by Israel’s adversaries.
“These protesters that stand with (Hamas), they should be ashamed of themselves,” he said.
Moments later, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) held up a sign that said “war criminal” on one side and “guilty of genocide” on the other. She also wore a Palestinian keffiyeh and a pin with the territory’s flag on it. Tlaib, who has relatives in the West Bank and represents a Michigan district with many Palestinians, has been one of Netanyahu’s loudest critics in Congress. She was censured for her comments last year about the latest Israel-Hamas war.
Earlier this week, a group of top former Israeli security and political officials accused Netanyahu of selfishly prioritizing his own political survival over the hostages’ fate and the security of his nation, the region, and even the world, in a letter sent to Congressional leaders.
“We are all pawns in a game of this handful of deciders,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son was among those kidnapped during Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, told CBS News. “Everyone in the region is oozing with pain and agony and misery, and it is enough.”
During his speech, Netanyahu addressed the plight of the hostages. Some family members of hostages or people who had been rescued sat in the crowd.
“I will not rest until all our loved ones are home,” he said. “All of them.”
