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US Cops Waged ‘Unprovoked Attack’ on Protesters During Netanyahu Address – Activist

© AFP 2023 / ANDREW THOMASPro-Palestinian demonstrators protest near the US Capitol before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest near the US Capitol before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.07.2024
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Police in Washington launched an “unprovoked attack” against peaceful protesters who marched near the US Capitol during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, the National Director of the ANSWER Coalition Brian Becker told Sputnik on Wednesday.
“They started pushing us, and then they started pepper spraying everybody in the front line of the protest, myself included,” Becker said.
“So, it was an unprovoked attack by the police, completely unprovoked.”
Becker added that it was “a full blast” of pepper spray, and that “dozens and dozens” of protesters were affected as a result.
“We are marching to protest the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu is getting a hero's welcome before both houses of Congress,” Becker said.
The police stopped the march at Constitution Avenue and warned that they would tear gas only if protesters tried to break security fences.
“We stood up by their line, we were chanting, we should be able to march,” Becker said, adding that the First Amendment to the US Constitution gives people the right to protest peacefully.
He also said out that the protest would continue until the end of Netanyahu’s speech.
The DC protest began at the US Capitol before moving toward the Union Station area.
A statement released by the US Capitol Police indicated that a total of six individuals were arrested from the House Galleries, citing unlawful conduct. The day prior, officials arrested some 200 people for protesting inside the Cannon House Office Building.
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