A riot erupted at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in front of the building, demanding a cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The protest turned violent as people from the crowd charged the door, and police got involved to break up the violence.
Several prominent Democratic Party legislators had been inside the building, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. However, ABC News reported that Jefferies had left the building by the time the violence broke out.
The U.S. Capitol Police put out a statement on the protest and ensuing chaos. They said that about 200 people were at the protest and that it wasn’t peaceful.
“We have handled hundreds of peaceful protests, but last night’s group was not peaceful,” the statement reads. “The crowd failed to obey our lawful orders to move back from the DNC, where Members of Congress were in the building.”
The statement continued:
When the group moved dumpsters in front of the exits, pepper sprayed our officers and attempted to pick up the bike rack, our teams quickly introduced consequences – pulling people off the building, pushing them back, and clearing them from the area, so we could safely evacuate the Members and staff.
According to the statement, six officers were treated for injuries sustained in the riot.
The Capitol Police also arrested 24-year-old Ruben Arthur Camacho after “an officer witnessed Camacho slam another officer into a garage door and then punch the female officer in the face.”
One House Democrat reportedly told Axios that the riot “scared me more than January 6.”
Several videos of the incident have been published on social media.
Journalist Andy Ngo posted a video of a melee in front of the DNC building.
Human Events editor Jack Posobiec posted a video of the protesters surrounding the front of the building.
Activists at the scene also put videos on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This is not the first pro-Palestinian protest where Capitol Police had to intervene. In mid-October, officers arrested hundreds of protesters who were calling for a cease-fire in Gaza because they were occupying a congressional office building and wouldn’t leave.
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