Pro-Palestine protesters created outrage after they vandalized the Los Angeles National Cemetery, the final resting place of around 90,000 veterans from World War I to Vietnam.
The demonstrators used spray paint on the entrance to the cemetery, illustrating phrases like ‘Free Gaza’ and ‘intifada’ on Sunday.
The original intifada is the name given to a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, beginning in 1987.
The protesters also chanted the phrase ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which has been deemed anti-Semitic by many.
Others held signs declaring President Joe Biden an enabler of genocide and accusing zionists of being Nazis.
Pro-Palestine protesters created outrage after they vandalized and deface the Los Angeles National Cemetery, the final resting place of around 90,000 veterans from World War I to Vietnam
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The demonstration shut down an area near Interstate 405 on Wilshire Boulevard that afternoon.
The cemetery is in an area that has seen several protests during Israel’s response to the Hamas terror attack on October 7. One protest, saw marchers s blocking the entrance to LAX just after Christmas.
Terrence Hayes, a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs, condemned the action in a statement.
‘VA national cemeteries are where our nation’s heroes are laid to rest, and any act of vandalism is unacceptable,’ he said.
‘We are taking immediate steps to restore the wall at the Los Angeles National Cemetery to its original state.’
Cleaning crews were seen soon after the vandalism cleaning up the graffiti on the entrance.
The cemetery released a statement of its own on it’s Facebook page.
The demonstrators used spray-paint on the entrance to the cemetery, illustrating phrases like ‘Free Gaza’ and ‘intifada’ on Sunday
Cleaning crews were seen soon after the vandalism cleaning up the graffiti on the entrance
The cemetery later thanked the LA County Graffiti Unit for cleaning up the mess
‘The Los Angeles National Cemetery is where our nation’s heroes are laid to rest, and any act of vandalism is unacceptable,’ they wrote.
‘We are taking immediate steps to restore the Los Angeles National Cemetery sign to its original state, and we are working with law enforcement on their investigation. Because this investigation is ongoing, we have no further comment at this time.’
They later thanked the LA County Graffiti Unit for cleaning up the mess.
Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democrat who represents the district, slammed the protesters as anti-American.
‘More proof that the people who hate #Israel, also hate America,’ he wrote.
‘Here, at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in my district, they deface a cemetery for those who gave their lives to end slavery and protect the world from fascism.’
‘The Los Angeles National Cemetery is where our nation’s heroes are laid to rest, and any act of vandalism is unacceptable,’ the memorial wrote on Facebook
Trial lawyer and city council candidate Sam Yebri was outraged over the vandalism.
‘Today, pro-Hamas extremists in LA sunk to a new low vandalizing the venerable grounds of the Los Angeles National Cemetery, where 85K American heroes who sacrificed their lives for our freedom are interned,’ he wrote on X.
‘They even used a Nazi concentration camp symbol of an upside red triangle.’
Pro-Palestinian protests have littered cities across the world almost immediately in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.
Israel’s war on Gaza has continued in the months since, save for a brief ceasefire, with some sources suggesting over 23,000 have been killed.