Several hundred fired-up Pro-Palestinian protesters sat in the street to block President Joe Biden’s motorcade between the White House and Capitol for his State of the Union address Thursday.
A massive Palestinian flag was unfurled on the street with demonstrators sitting and standing around it and others held a banner with the message: ‘Biden’s legacy is genocide.’
The protesters had bullhorns, held ‘ceasefire’ signs and wore black shirts with messages demanding Biden get tough on Israel.
They were surrounded by law enforcement officials from all sides as police helicopters circled Washington, D.C.
Pro-Palestine protesters stand in the middle of the street in attempts to block President Joe Biden’s motorcade between the White House and Capitol for his State of the Union address on Thursday evening. Pictured: Jewish Voice for Peace activists join a pro-Palestinian protest on Pennsylvania Ave. on March 7, 2024
Pro-Palestine protesters rallied near the White House just hours before Biden’s State of the Union address
The stand is mostly symbolic since there are many routes to take from the White House to the Capitol that would avoid the protesters.
Meanwhile, down the street another group of pro-Palestine protesters stood outside Republican Capitol Hill watering hole Bullfeathers and chanted at staffers dining and drinking ahead of the State of the Union.
‘Staffers, staffers you can’t hide! We charge you with Genocide,’ they shouted at Hill employees and demanded they ‘quit your jobs.’
‘Get a job!’ the Republican House staffers shouted back at the protesters interrupting their evening.
Biden departed the White House at 8:50 p.m. for the short trip over to the Capitol for his third State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress. There appeared to be no hiccups with the few-minute drive on Thursday evening despite the protesters.
Demonstrators were sitting and marching in the middle of Pennsylvania Ave. hours before Biden departed on one of the more direct routes between the White House and Capitol.
‘When I say genocide, you say Joe,’ one demonstrator with a bull horn prompted the call and response chant.
Progressives and pro-Palestine factions of the Democratic Party are highly critical of Biden’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza after Hamas terrorists attacked the Jewish State in October.
‘When I say genocide, you say Joe,’ one demonstrator with a bull horn prompted the call and response chant
The demonstrators projected an image of Biden’s face on the side of a building with the message ‘Genocide Joe’
Protesters sat in the middle of the street around a Palestinian flag on the ground of Pennsylvania Ave. as they projected ‘Biden’s legacy is genocide’ on the side of a nearby building
Biden has strongly backed Israel, but lately has seen backlash for that stance.
In Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary last month, more than 100,000 voters cast their ballot for ‘uncommitted’ in protes.
In his speech Biden will announce the U.S. military will constructing a temporary floating port off of Gaza to more easily send humanitarian aid to Palestinian people.
The move was expected to placate disgruntled members of his own party.
Hamas launched their attack on Israel October 7, 2023 and carried out the largest single-day atrocity against Jewish people since the Holocaust.
Thursday marks the five-month mark of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas that started that day in October.
But protesters in the U.S. have accused Israel of conducting attacks against the Palestinian people.
Israel maintains it is defending itself against Hamas and terrorists operating out of Palestinian enclaves.
Protesters unfurled a massive Palestinian flag on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. in preparation to try and block the route Biden might typically take in his motorcade between the White House and Capitol