Protesters against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza were locked in a battle of words with Washington police on Thursday after accusing officers of violently breaking up a demonstration on Capitol Hill that organisers insist was peaceful.
Leaders of the Ceasefire Now Coalition said 90 of their activists were injured in confrontations that took place after they staged a candlelit vigil outside the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters on Wednesday evening.
The coalition said volunteers were pepper-sprayed, kicked, pulled by the hair and dragged down flights of stairs by officers in riot gear, who they accused of ignoring longstanding protocols for non-violent protest by failing to issue dispersal notices or engage with the rally’s specially designated police liaison representative.
But in a rebuttal, police said the group was “not peaceful” and said six officers had to be treated for injuries after being pepper-sprayed and punched. One 24-year-old protester was arrested for allegedly slamming a female officer into a garage door and punching her in the face, police said in a statement.
They also accused the protesters of moving dumpsters to block entrances.
“We have handled hundreds of peaceful protests, but last night’s group was not peaceful,” the police statement said. “The crowd failed to obey our lawful orders to move back from the DNC, where members of Congress were in the building.
“When the group moved dumpsters in front of the exits, pepper sprayed our officers and attempted to pick up the bike rack, our teams quickly introduced consequences – pulling people off the building, pushing them back, and clearing them from the area, so we could safely evacuate the members and staff.”
Organisers said the event – jointly staged by three leftist groups, Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now and the Democratic Socialists of America – followed the traditions of non-violence pioneered by the US civil rights movement.
But Wednesday’s clashes was one of the most graphic signs yet of the dissension arising from Israel’s military response to last month’s attack by Hamas, when more than 1,200 people were killed and another 240 taken hostage.
In a video news conference, the coalition denied the accusations of aggression against police and pointed to video footage which it said showed only officers committing acts of violence.
They also accused congressmen of spreading disinformation about the group by claiming it was pro-Hamas – the group has condemned the Hamas attack and antisemitism – singling out the Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio, and Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California. Sherman tweeted that he had been evacuated after “pro-terrorist” demonstrators tried to “break into the building”.
“Congressman Sherman and Senator Rubio are spreading extremely dangerous and reckless disinformation about our non-violent movement,” said Eva Borgwardt, national spokeswoman for If Not Now. “The only people I saw using violence at that protest was the police.”
Dani Noble, of Jewish Voice for Peace, said the vigil had been organised to lobby Democratic congressmen attending a function at the headquarters to respond to the sentiments of 80% of the party’s supporters across the country, who she said supported a ceasefire in Israel’s Gaza onslaught, which has so far killed more than 11,000 people, about 40% of them children.
She denied that activists tried to storm the building but said they were attempting to create a path for elected officials entering and leaving the building to talk to demonstrators.
“In absolutely no instance did anyone try to enter the building,” she told journalists. “We were singing and chanting and waiting for Democratic officials to show up.”
The coalition has organised several other civil disobedience events in Washington in recent weeks urging the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire, notably outside the White House and on Capitol Hill, where demonstrators staged a mass sit-in inside the oldest congressional office facility, the Cannon Building.
Both events saw police carry out multiple arrests but otherwise passed without violence.
“We were so clear why we were there [last night],” said Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, of the Jewish Voice for Peace rabbinical council. “Every person was wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Ceasefire Now’. We have been singing these songs for a month. They knew very well why we were there.
“We were seated, linked arms with banners and the moment a dispersal order was given, the police had all the tools that they needed to non-violently and safely remove protesters. Instead they chose to push and shove people, and hit and pepper-spray. The police have tools to deal with non-violent civil disobedience, and last night they chose not to use them. And I want to know why.”
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
