(LibertyInsider.org) – Protestors who converged on the Cannon building at the US Capitol on October 18 initially appeared to be raising awareness for the plight of people in Palestine. However, the demonstration quickly devolved into a tense scenario that some, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, have since labeled an “insurrection.”
I am formally requesting that the United States Capitol Police preserve all video surveillance footage, photographic evidence, police reports, and arrest records from all House Office Buildings on October 18, 2023.@CapitolPolice pic.twitter.com/MJ8DaRehy4
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) October 18, 2023
Aimed at raising awareness of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the gathering began arriving at the House Office Building in the early afternoon. Representatives from the activism groups Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, who orchestrated the protest, also attended.
A significant number of Jewish individuals present in the crowd passionately advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza. They sang, carried signs, and chanted slogans, contributing to a charged atmosphere that later forced Capitol Police to intervene.
The demonstration began peacefully enough. Capitol Police had erected fencing in an effort to contain the crowd the night before and warned them not to move their efforts indoors. But by later the same afternoon, an estimated 3-500 people had contravened that guideline, positioning themselves to begin protesting within the Cannon building’s inner rotunda.
Protestors blocked elevators, made it difficult to access exits, and effectively halted proceedings in the area for the majority of the afternoon. At least three people were charged with assaulting a police officer as a result of the incident. Several hundred others were arrested for illegally protesting inside a House office building.
Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, focused on advocating for peace in the Middle East, groups claimed that the protest drew approximately 10,000 participants. Pictures captured at the event certainly seem to reflect that the crowd was large. However, other reports from eyewitnesses claim the number was much lower, perhaps even in the hundreds.
Jewish Voice for Peace also disagreed with Capitol Police over how many people had been arrested during the event. On Twitter, they posted that”500 Jews were arrested” while demonstrating inside the rotunda. However, Capitol Police confirmed only 308 arrests during an exchange with Fox 5 News on October 19.
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