Yesterday while going to work I took some pictures of the layered security approach that DC was taking for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Joint Session of Congress address today. If you care to see the pictures from yesterday here they are #619181. Everyone in the office was aware of the situation and during the morning we received more intel about not only the sheer number of people coming but also where they were going to protest and where they were coming from.
Turns out the protestors drove up the price of hotel rooms in DC as between 10 and 20 thousand people are expected to protest outside of the Capitol when the speech is given in a couple of hours. While at work we started getting more and more reports of areas that were either A) now shut down or B) were going to be shut down which rapidly started making it pretty difficult to get to work in the first place!
One thing about protesting is that you cannot do it inside the House Office Buildings. Capitol Police when you do so will typically give you a couple minutes before telling you that you need to disperse or be arrested. Well in the Canon House Office Building yesterday afternoon there was a flashmob style protest that occurred and while that is what it is events before and during it where a little more eye-opening.
Mitchell Rivard, chief of staff for Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said in a statement that his office called for Capitol Police intervention after the demonstrators “became disruptive, violently beating on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force entry into the office.”Kildee later told The Associated Press that he was confused why his office was targeted, saying he had voted against a massive supplemental military aid package to Israel earlier this year.
This stuff isn't normal that's not to say it is not unheard of but in my roughly 3.5 years on The Hill, this has happened maybe once or twice. Here is a picture of part of the group that participated in the event.
I do not think it surprises anyone that once they did not disperse they were all arrested which totaled roughly 200 people. We were then told of additional measures that were being put into place but it was a little bit too late at that point for most staffers as a lot of them on my Committee began to put in for today off to avoid having to come into work and dealing with such a volatile situation.
Within the last hour, we have had a major tunnel closed in DC due to protestors and dozens of arrests for people blocking the few roadways that remain open around the Capitol. Given we have 2 more hours till the speech is supposed to start and then I am sure protests afterward as well it is going to be more eventful than I initially thought it would be. Estimates continue to vary on the number of people that are expected at the Capitol at 2 but the most recent one I have seen is 10k which while it does not sound crazy is a lot of people given the area where protesters are being directed to by the fencing!
UPDATE: Netanyahu has still not arrived for the 2PM speech and the following is developing at the Capitol
The police are trying to move protesters out of the street, but they keep moving to block the expected path of the Netanyahu motorcade. “Wherever the motorcade goes, the people go to stop it!” declared speakers on the main stage. “Wherever you go, Bibi, the people are there in your face!”