As today’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) begins, Chicago is struggling to contain hordes of masked anti-Israel protesters, determined to cause disruption.
This challenge of protecting American institutions from violent agitators is by now familiar to Washington, D.C., which has suffered repeated, large scale rounds of protests this summer.
In June, thousands of chanting protesters swarmed the White House, demanding President Joe Biden end America’s support for Israel. Demonstrators, some sporting symbols and slogans of support for US-designated terrorist groups, occupied and trashed nearby Lafayette Park, vandalizing its statues and setting off a smoke bomb. Many hid their faces and identities under layers of wrapped keffiyehs and surgical masks: the new uniform of aggressive demonstrators.
When U.S. Park Police officers and Secret Service agents attempted to apprehend a demonstrator, unidentifiable protesters formed a mob, shouting “fuck the police!” and successfully chased law enforcement out of the park by the White House. Shockingly, no arrests were made for this wild desecration in Lafayette Park.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Washington Reporter
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Hannah Meyers is director of the policing and public safety initiative at the Manhattan Institute.
Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images