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300 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested for storming US Capitol

Palestinian-American member of congress Rashida Tlaib accused Israel of genocide in fiery speech

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WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 18: Demonstrators attend a rally in support of a cease fire in Gaza on Independence Avenue near the U.S. Capitol Building on October 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Activists with Jewish Voice for Peace and the IfNotNow movement organized the rally to call for a cease fire in the Israel–Hamas war. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

More than 300 pro-Palsestinian protestors have been arrested for storming the US Capitol after radical member of Congress Rashida Tlaib told them that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza.

Tlaib, a Palestinian American, addressed a rally outside the Cannon Building in DC before the crowd pushed their way inside, in scenes reminiscent of Jan. 6. 

The congresswoman said the hospital in Gaza had been ‘bombed’ when in fact the US government and other experts have determined the explosion was caused by a misfiring rocket aimed at Israel.

“We continue to watch people think it’s ok to bomb a hospital," she said through tears.  

“I’m telling you right now President Biden not all of America is with you on this one. You need to wake up and understand that. We are literally watching people commit genocide.

“A lot of people are not gonna forget this. It's not a threat - it isn't.”

Protesters mounted a sit-in and scuffled with police. Capitol Police said three of the 300 arrested had been charged with assaulting a police officer.

In a statement, the police said: “We warned the protestors to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them.” 

Rep. Randy Weber posted a video of a sign saying 'I stand with Israel' outside his office that had been torn down by protesters. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for the protesters to be ‘prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law’ and labeled it an ‘insurrection’.

“The Committee on House Administration must investigate this incident and review all footage and evidence provided by Capitol Police, and the insurrectionists involved must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.

Tlaib has frequently been accused of antisemitism and was banned from entering Israel in 2019. She has called Israel an ‘apartheid state’ and in 2020 deleted a tweet in which she used the phrase ‘from the river to the sea.’

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