Jeffries denounces Union Station unrest amid Netanyahu visit

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) condemned the unrest from multiple pro-Palestinian protests during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the nation’s capital.

“Defacing public property, desecrating the American flag, threatening Jews with violence and promoting terrorist groups like Hamas is not acceptable under any circumstance,” Jeffries wrote in a statement Thursday morning.

“There is a difference between lawful expression and disorderly conduct. Anyone who violates the law must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.

Thousands of protesters gathered Wednesday near the Capitol, where Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress.

Calling for Netanyahu’s arrest, the demonstrators lowered and then burned U.S. flags outside Union Station, just blocks from the Capitol. A U.S. Park Police captain confirmed to The Hill that two of the three flags taken down from the poles outside Union Station were burned by protesters.

The demonstrators raised smaller Palestinian flags in their place and vandalized various statues and fountains, according to police. Some protesters marched with posters reading, “Netanyahu is a criminal.”

U.S. Park Police, D.C. Metro Police, and the New York Police Department responded to the protest at Columbia Circle outside Union Station.

Demonstrators said they briefly scuffled with police on one side of Columbus Circle, and the U.S. Park Police later revoked the permit for the protest and ordered protesters to leave the area. Law enforcement was observed pepper-spraying some demonstrators.

Metro police confirmed on Thursday that four people were arrested at Columbus Circle, while U.S. Park Police took at least eight people into custody.

The Hill reached out to U.S. Park Police for further comment.