On Wednesday night, a mob of over 100 anti-Semitic rioters suddenly stormed the entrance to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters, leading to clashes with Capitol Police and forcing the evacuation of several members of Congress inside.
As reported by ABC News, the Capitol Police acknowledged in a subsequent statement that officers had to “keep back” the crowd of approximately 150 people due to the manner in which they were “illegally and violently” protesting at the building’s main entrance. Six officers were injured, with injuries “ranging from minor cuts to being pepper sprayed to being punched;” all officers were treated at the scene.
At the time of the riot, seven members of Congress were inside the building, hearing from prospective candidates, when they were ordered to evacuate by Capitol Police. One member of Congress present at the time, Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), said that they were approached by “heavily armed and serious” Capitol Police officers. Others in attendance included House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Congressman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), though Sherman said that Jeffries and Clark had already left by the time the rioters attacked.
From inside the building, Sherman said he could hear chants of “ceasefire now,” referring to the rioters’ opposition to Israel’s retaliation after a series of massive terrorist attacks by the Palestinian terror group Hamas one month ago, during the weekend of October 7th.
Sherman said that he expected the protest to last no more than 10 or 15 minutes, but was then approached by Capitol Police officers and told to evacuate.
“Then the Capitol Police came in big time and said, ‘We’re getting you out of here,'” Sherman recounted.
Another congressman who was in the building at the time was Congressman Sean Casten (D-Ill.), who described his experience in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: “I was just evacuated from the @dccc office after the building was surrounded by protestors who had blocked all modes of ingress and egress. Grateful to Capitol Police for getting all members and staff out safely. To the protestors: PLEASE don’t do something irresponsible.”
Although the rioters were cleared out at around 10:00 PM, Capitol Police remained at the scene “out of an abundance of caution.”
The incident marks the third time since the October 7th attacks that anti-Israel rioters have staged violent insurrections against a major political target in Washington D.C. On October 18th, a crowd stormed the United States Capitol following a rally where Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) whipped the crowd into a frenzy with lies about the destruction of a hospital in Gaza, falsely blaming Israel for the incident. Then, on November 4th, hundreds of rioters stormed the fence of the White House, smearing red paint on the brick columns and attacking Secret Service agents.