Pro-Palestinian Protesters Swarm White House, Threaten to Breach Gate Until Secret Service Intervenes
A White House fence was vandalized Saturday night by pro-Palestinian protesters who doused red paint on it.
During the rowdy protest, marchers rattled a gate while one demonstrator climbed the black gate to wave a Palestinian flag.
A nearby statue of General Marquis de Lafayette in Lafayette Park was tagged with graffiti and festooned with Palestinian flags, according to Fox News.
The protest ended at about 8 p.m.
“Demonstrators are beginning to disperse from the area and the attempted gate trespass from earlier was handled without incident by Secret Service Uniformed Division officers and support teams,” Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, said. “As of now, no arrests have been made by Secret Service personnel.”
The White House’s NW entrance has been smeared with red paint and protesters are pushing on gate #March4Palestine pic.twitter.com/D4cFNOCyiU
— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) November 4, 2023
The White House incident, which took place as Biden was at his Delaware beach house, came after massive protests in Washington that drew a crowd estimated to be up to 100,000 people, according to the New York Post.
In addition to chanting “F*** Joe Biden,” marchers called out “Long live the Intifada,” a label for the Palestinian uprising, while others called for the end of the nation of Israel.
Interestingly, counter to what Guglielmi said, Metropolitan police claimed one man was arrested but did not provide details.
Protesters carrying palestinian 🇵🇸 flags spraying red paint on the White House northwestern gate and climbing the fences.
This is their systematic behaviour, they demand respect with violence and disrespect.
pic.twitter.com/hfQtoV9PAs— Ricardo Guiliani (@RicardoGuiliani) November 5, 2023
The protests are “a testament of just how much more support has grown around the Palestinian solidarity movement and that people really want to see change come,” Iman Abid-Thompson, director of advocacy at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, told CNN.
“This has now become a choice of morality. And I think you either choose to speak up and support the Palestinians or you choose to support a genocide,” Abid-Thompson said.
Pro-Palestine insurrectionists scale the White House fence waiving the Palestinian Flag. I’m sure they will be hunted down, thrown in gulags, and given 17-22 year sentences. pic.twitter.com/notJMQJ3qM
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 5, 2023
Ron Halber, executive director for the Jewish Community Relations Group, said the marchers “are wholeheartedly supporting a homicidal terrorist organization that slaughtered 1,400 Israelis in cold blood and has taken numerous civilians hostage including from our own country.
“They are just incredibly misguided, uninformed and reactionary, and history will judge they have put themselves on the side of supporting terrorists versus a democracy trying to defend itself,” he said, according to Fox News.
According to the CBC, one message of the protest was aimed at Biden’s re-election campaign.
“[It’s] the language of votes,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said.
“Our message is no ceasefire, no votes…. No votes in Michigan. No votes in Arizona. No votes in Georgia…. No votes for you anywhere, if you do not call for a ceasefire now,” Awad said.
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