![Police confront excrement throwing pro-Hamas mob in Washington DC [VIDEOS] Police confront excrement throwing pro-Hamas mob in Washington DC [VIDEOS]](https://www.rvmnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024.07.25-08.48-rvmnews-66a2ba1fa364d.jpg)
A group of pro-Hamas rioters overwhelmed an understaffed US park police force during a riot with a “terrorist sympathizing mob” in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.
Park Fraternal Order of Police President Kenneth Spencer described the harrowing situation, where just 29 officers faced a crowd outside Union Station, a few blocks from the Capitol, as he inform The New York Post.
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“We were mostly on our own,” said Spencer, a 15-year veteran. Despite years of “empty promises” to increase the agency's budget from Congress and the Interior Department, Spencer noted that the force remains critically understaffed. “Especially in the D.C. area, everyone is understaffed just like we are,” he explained.
The rioters attacked the police in the park with various projectiles, including items that emitted “a very strong smell of faeces”.
Nothing to see here. Dragging police officers, burning flags and vandalizing public property is peaceful… 2020 again, except this time we have fewer officers… without help from @Interior… #DefundThePolice pic.twitter.com/IPsaqMqNFk
— USPP FOP (@1791FOP) July 24, 2024
Despite the chaos, the officers managed to hold their own. “We have a huge mission. We are the agency that protects First Amendment rights when people come to visit D.C.,” Spencer stressed, noting the agency's responsibility to protect major soft targets throughout the country
The demonstration saw vandalizing monuments with graffiti such as “Hamas is coming” and tearing down US flags, trying to replace them with Palestinian flags.
🚨 Protesters replace the American flag with the Palestinian flag outside Union Station in Washington DC
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 24, 2024
The riots coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress, where he condemned anti-Israel protesters.
“When the tyrants in Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, praise, promote and finance you, you have officially become Iran's useful idiots,” Netanyahu declared.
The situation of the outnumbered park police became dire as they faced increasing aggression. Only 10 arrests were made, two of which came outside of the standoff at Columbus Circle and the remaining eight by DC police.
House National Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to provide additional officers and support to the park police.
“I don't see how this could be classified as a peaceful protest,” Westerman remarked, praising the officers' efforts. “If the park police only had 29 officers there to deal with that crowd, I'd say they did a remarkable job of keeping things under control as well as they did.”
A spokesman for the National Park Service stated that no requests for resources had been made or denied prior to the demonstration.
The House Oversight Committee is now considering an investigation into the riots and any possible connections to foreign terrorist groups, with Westerman criticizing Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, for allowing years of destructive demonstrations.
This morning, my colleagues and I introduced a bill to deport any alien involved in violence and vandalism on federal property.
The actions of the pro-Hamas lunatics at Union Station in DC are shameful, and anyone with a visa who participated should have it revoked immediately. pic.twitter.com/A0I2FVmeh8
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 24, 2024
“It's too little, too late for them to come out and condemn things,” he said. Harris condemned the riots' “despicable acts of unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric” in a statement Thursday morning.
In response to the vandalism, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP members restored US flags at Union Station. “Some of the national icons and the property, burning the flags, everything that we're supposed to do and protect, we weren't able to do that effectively,” Spencer lamented.
🚨 #BREAKING: Several House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, have just replaced American flags that were torn down by pro-Palestinian protesters
THIS IS THE AMERICA I KNOW AND LOVE! 🇺🇸
That makes me feel a lot better after what I saw on the ground today… pic.twitter.com/JihtjVMxFA
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 25, 2024
Spencer has spoken about the chronic understaffing and lack of support from Congress and the Department of the Interior. “I've done everything in my power to address this with Congress, the DOI, the Park Service, even the White House. Nothing has been done,” he said. “If 2020 were to happen again in front of the White House or in front of the Capitol or the Lincoln Memorial, anywhere in downtown Washington, DC, we will not be able to complete our mission,” he warned.
The Metropolitan Police Department charged five people with blocking traffic near the Capitol, including Chloe Moussa, 22, Lance Rami Farouk Lokas, Page Thorin, 24, Anam Hussain, 23, and Aiya Bettinger, 20 .Most come from states outside the DC metro area. .
Other arrests included two for crossing a police line and two for assaulting an officer, one of which was a 15-year-old from Ohio.
US Capitol Police coordinated with park police, but made no arrests at Union Station. Six people were arrested by Capitol Police for disrupting Netanyahu's speech: Michael Levy, 41, Carmit Palty Katzir, 45, Gil Dickmann, 32, Leat Ruben, 37, Alon Gat, 37, and Shahar Mor, 52.