Charges dropped against nearly half of the anti-Israel protesters arrested at Union Station

Some of those not charged unquestionably broke the law

Prosecutors have dropped charges against 11 of the 25 people arrested in Washington, D.C. during the violent protest at Union Station against Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance before Congress. Police union officials have decried this move. “It’s a slap in the face of law enforcement who are doing their jobs; shame on [prosecutors] for giving free passes to criminals,” the chairman of the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee said.

It’s not unusual for arrests at a demonstration to sweep in a people who did not commit any crime. This may well have happened during the anti-Israel demonstrations this week.

However, it would be unusual for nearly half of the people arrested to be innocent. And it’s clear that some of those not charged did, in fact, commit crimes.

For example, one protester who won’t be charged is a 19 year-old who participated in tearing down the American flag at Union Station. This is a crime because the flag in question is government property. The 19 year-old resisted arrest and was aided in this attempt by fellow protesters who assaulted police officers.

The 19 year-old admits committing the crime. He says “it didn’t seem right” that the American flag was flying higher than the Palestinian flags carried by the protesters. Upset that the U.S. government “just stands there and lets [the suffering in Gaza] happen,” he climbed up the flagpole and began trying to take down the American flag.

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” he added, and I believe him. He’s not being punished, so why wouldn’t he?

Another protester climbed up the Union Station flagpole and pulled on the flag line in attempt to bring down the flag. She resisted arrest and had to be carried out of the crowd. Her resistance placed police officers in danger of being assaulted, as the officers who arrested the 19 year-old were.

Prosecutors have dropped charges against this lawbreaker, as well.

Comparing the treatment of criminals like these to the treatment of non-violent January 6, 2021 protesters, I see political bias. Protesters who illegally entered the Capitol, but then did nothing more than mill around for a while before leaving, had the book thrown at them.

They were charged with interfering with a government proceeding (a charge that, years later, the Supreme Court ruled could not be brought against them), prosecuted, and sentenced to serve time. All this, despite the fact that they damaged no property, clashed with no police officer, and for that matter did nothing to prevent any congressional proceeding from going forward. (In some cases, they left the Capitol after being told to do so by the police.)

By contrast, some of the leftist protesters who were arrested for offense against government property and for clashing with the police at Union Station go free.

Furthermore, according to this report, at least seven people of the 14 people charged by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington were released pending their next court hearing. Among that group are protesters charged with assault on a police officer and attempted assault with a deadly weapon.

I understand that January 6 was a unique kind of protest because it was directed against a democratic process — the certification of an election. The pro-Palestinian demonstration at Union Station did not implicate democratic processes. In fact, these protests, though repugnant, are part of the democratic process in America.

But crime is crime. When a protest spills over into criminality, there’s no excuse for not prosecuting the criminals.

I should also note that one of the pro-Palestine protests that occurred in D.C. this week took place inside the Cannon House Office Building. It was organized by something called Jewish Voice for Peace. (As Rep. Mike Lawler observed, if these “Jewish voices” were in Gaza, “Hamas would very likely kill them.")

The Capitol Police was called in because the “Jewish voices” were “violently beating on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force entry into the office” of at least one representative. In other words, they were interfering with the work of Congress and thus the democratic process.

After 20 minutes, Capitol Police officers told the protesters to stop their disruptive behavior. Most refused. Capitol Police then arrested approximately 200 of the protesters.

Have charges against any of them been dropped? I don’t know.

Will all of these protesters be prosecuted? I doubt it. Will any of them be? I don’t know?

In view of the recent Supreme Court decision, they can’t be prosecuted for obstructing Congress (not that there’s any reason to believe they would have been), but they can be prosecuted for ordinary misdemeanors. It will be interesting to see whether any of them are.