The union representing U.S. Park Police said the pro-Palestinian protests happening near the Capitol in Washington, D.C. brought to mind the chaos of the summer of 2020.
“Nothing to see here. Dragging police officers, burning flags, and vandalizing public property is peaceful… 2020 all over again, except this time we have fewer officers… no help from [the Department of the Interior],” the U.S. Park Fraternal Order of Police posted on social media platform X, along with video taken outside Union Station near the Capitol.
Nothing to see here. Dragging police officers, burning flags, and vandalizing public property is peaceful… 2020 all over again, except this time we have fewer officers… no help from @Interior… #DefundThePolice pic.twitter.com/IPsaqMqNFk
— USPP FOP (@1791FOP) July 24, 2024
Recall the “mostly peaceful” social justice protests against the police in the summer of 2020 were in fact very destructive, causing up to $2 billion in property damage and taking several lives, Axios reported at the time, making it the most expensive riot damage in U.S. insurance history.
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During his speech before a joint session of Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the pro-Palestinian protesters “useful idiots” in the cause of evil.
“Many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil,” he said. “They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers.”
On Wednesday, protesters could be seen taking down the American flag and burning it outside Union Station.
The protesters also burned an effigy depicting Netanyahu.
#NOW American Flag Taken Down from a pole outside of Union station and Burned near Capitol building in DC, Including effigy of Netanyahu
Thousands gathered in DC to protest for Palestine and against Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/wPnFu5NLRg
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) July 24, 2024
A brave man did pull the burning flag from the fire, but he was chased down and ultimately dropped the flag.
A man saves a smoldering American flag from the center of the protest and is nearly tackled amidst shouts “get him!” pic.twitter.com/ZHexsEZbak
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) July 24, 2024
One of the most notable protests in the summer of 2020 in Washington, D.C., happened outside the White House following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Why rioters thought then-President Donald Trump was responsible is incomprehensible.
Nonetheless, protesters broke through the outer security barriers at the White House.
Flashback May 2020: The far-left rioters tore apart the barrier outside the White House piece by piece in an attempt to storm the building and burn it down. Many in the mob called for the president to be lynched. #CapitolRiot pic.twitter.com/krfqIRglNY
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 7, 2022
The Associated Press reported that Secret Service agents rushed Trump to a bunker under 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, given the security breach.
The Secret Service said in a May 31, 2020, statement, “Some demonstrators repeatedly attempted to knock over security barriers, and vandalized six Secret Service vehicles. Between Friday night and Sunday morning, more than 60 Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers and Special Agents sustained multiple injuries from projectiles such as bricks, rocks, bottles, fireworks and other items.
“Secret Service personnel were also directly physically assaulted as they were kicked, punched, and exposed to bodily fluids. A total of 11 injured employees were transported to a local hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.”
There was no DOJ roundup of the perpetrators like that seen after the Jan. 6, 2021, protest several months later.
Overall, D.C. police said 106 people were arrested in protests around the district that weekend, according to The Washington Post.
But that’s not the end of the story.
The news outlet said that although “many of those arrested were charged by police with felony rioting, that charge was dropped by prosecutors in most cases.”
It’s no wonder the Park Police feel so unsupported in the nation’s capital. The pro-Palestinian protesters seem to face the same lack of consequences the social-justice rioters did.
The police union is right: It’s like “2020 all over again.”
