Videos: Anti-War Activists Disrupt US Senate Hearing With Blinken, Call for Peace in Ukraine
© Screenshot/CODEPINK
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday to hear testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken was disrupted on several occasions by anti-war demonstrators who called on the chief US diplomat to push for peace in Ukraine.
The demonstrators were associated with CODEPINK, a grassroots organization focused on peace and human rights.
"If you don’t like the Chinese proposal, where is your peace proposal? The American people want you to negotiate. Be a diplomat. Do your job now," CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin said, while being escorted out of the hearing by police.
BREAKING: CODEPINK's @medeabenjamin disrupts a Senate hearing with @SecBlinken to tell him to stop being a war hawk and start being a diplomat!
— CODEPINK (@codepink) March 22, 2023
We need peace talks now for #PeaceInUkraine! pic.twitter.com/qp51bU6Hf8
Benjamin later explained that she interrupted Blinken's testimony because "he has nothing to end" the Ukraine conflict, having most recently held only a brief meeting with his counterpart Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"We need him to be a real diplomat.. we need him to solve the problem not fuel the problem," she continued, adding that sending more arms to Ukraine was not the answer to the conflict. "A solution is negotiations - that's what we need."
Several other CODEPINK activists also disrupted the hearing, including by calling on Blinken to end US sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela.
WATCH: Our Latin America campaigner Samantha is removed from a Senate hearing for telling @SecBlinken that Cuba is not a state sponsor of terrorism. Listen to Latin American leaders — take Cuba #OffTheList! pic.twitter.com/0k8VNXlKKZ
— CODEPINK (@codepink) March 22, 2023
Also among the participating activists was Greg Wilpert, the founder of Venezuela Analysis, who took the opportunity to urge politicians to "engage in diplomacy, not in economic warfare."
Our very own @gregwilpert (Venezuelanalysis founder) disrupts US State Secretary @SecBlinken to demand an end to illegal and murderous sanctions against Cuba and Venezuela! #SanctionsKill
— venezuelanalysis.com (@venanalysis) March 22, 2023
"Engage in diplomacy, not in economic warfare!"
WATCH 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/OAPgcCE9rr
The Senate panel hearing on Wednesday was focused on the State Department’s budget, which Benjamin has said may as well be part of the Pentagon’s budget.
