Vice President Harris issued a statement condemning the violent anti-Israel riots that disrupted Washington DC’s busiest train station.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee made the statement on Thursday, hours after violent protests against a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Yesterday at Union Station in Washington, D.C., we witnessed the despicable actions and hateful and dangerous rhetoric of unpatriotic protesters,” Harris said. “I condemn the individuals associated with Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization vowed to destroy the State of Israel and murder Jewish people.”
Protesters spray-painted graffiti at the monument, pulled down an American flag flying outside Union Station and eventually set it on fire amid cheers and chants against Israel.
House Republicans replace American flag at Union Station following anti-Israel protests
An unnamed man who many are calling a hero rescued a burning American flag during a pro-Hamas demonstration in front of Union Station on Wednesday, July 24. (@RichieMcGinniss via X)
Harris explicitly condemned several protest placards glorifying the terrorist organization Hamas that were seen during the riots.
“Pro-Hamas graffiti and speech are abhorrent and must not be tolerated in our country,” Harris wrote.
Check it out: The most dramatic photos from Wednesday’s pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington DC
Pro-Palestinian protesters scrawled graffiti on the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Washington, US, on July 24, 2024. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
The statement came just minutes after Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance took to social media to criticize Harris for not acknowledging the riots.
“An anti-American and pro-Hamas mob burned an American flag in front of the U.S. Capitol, and the woman running for president still refuses to condemn it,” Vance said on X, shortly before Harris’ statement was released.
“I condemn the burning of the American flag. That flag represents our highest ideals as a nation and the promise of America. It should never be desecrated in such a way,” Harris said in a statement.
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“While I support the right to peacefully protest, let me be clear: anti-Semitism, hatred and violence of any kind have no place in our country,” the vice president concluded.
