U.S. Capitol Police arrested roughly 60 protesters on Dec. 19 calling for a ceasefire between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
The demonstration occurred in the Rotunda in the Capitol.
The anti-Israel protesters were taking a tour of the Capitol when they broke out into protest despite having been screened upon entry into the Capitol, Capitol Police told The Epoch Times.
“It is against the law to demonstrate inside the congressional buildings, so we brought in additional officers to be prepared for the moment the group would break the law,” said Capitol Police.
The demonstrators dropped shoes on the ground to symbolize Palestinians killed in the conflict, according to reports and images circulating on X.
The demonstration was cleared, according to Capitol Police.
The numbers of those killed in Gaza is uncertain, as the Gaza Health Ministry is controlled by Hamas and allegedly is not a reliable source. Progressives have repeatedly called for a ceasefire with the latest conflict between the Hamas and the Jewish state—which started on Oct. 7, resulting in the biggest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
The protest comes just over a couple months after activists with the anti-Israel groups IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace stormed and held a sit-in at the Cannon House Office Building, calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Hundreds were arrested by Capitol Police for crowding, obstructing, or incommoding. They held a demonstration outside the U.S. Capitol beforehand.
“Demonstrations are not allowed inside congressional buildings ... We warned the protesters to stop demonstrating, and when they did not comply, we began arresting them,” Capitol Police said.
Videos taken by Epoch Times reporters inside the Cannon building on Capitol Hill show protesters chanting, “Ceasefire now!”
The House Sergeant at Arms said in an emailed statement received by The Epoch Times, “Due to First Amendment activities on Capitol grounds, all pedestrian entry points to the House Office Buildings are restricted to Members and Staff ONLY.
“Public and Official Business Visitors (OBVs) are only permitted to enter via the Longworth 24/7 door at South Capitol Street until further notice.”
Jewish Voice for Peace, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is “a radical anti-Israel activist group that advocates for a complete economic, cultural, and academic boycott of the state of Israel” and “rejects the view that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a tragic dispute over land which has been perpetuated by a cycle of violence, fear, and distrust on both sides; in favor of the belief that Israeli policies and actions are motivated by deeply rooted Jewish racial chauvinism and religious supremacism.”
IfNotNow, said ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt, “seems to be more interested in spectacles and ultimatums than in discussion and dialogue grappling with the difficult issues involved in achieving peace.”
