The hallways of the Longworth House Office Building, which connects to the U.S. Capitol, descended into chaos Friday when Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., launched a profanity-laced tirade against an anti-Israel protester who accosted him while he was holding a baby.
“The fact that we have terrorism sympathizers in this building is unacceptable. They should not be allowed in here. What is happening in Israel is abhorrent. That’s what it is. And the next time he tries to accost me with a child in my hand— I want him out of here!” Santos screamed as he tore through the building’s hallways followed by a throng of reporters asking him what had transpired.
“He’s an animal!” Santos continued. “He is a f—ing terrorist sympathizer.”
The protester was later handcuffed by U.S. Capitol Police.
Reporters continued to press Santos to explain what happened, to which he stopped walking and said: “The gentleman back there is a terrorist sympathizer that has no business in this building.”
“What is happening in Israel is abhorrent. What is happening to the people of Israel should not be defended. Nobody defending Hamas has any business in his building whether you’re elected, whether you’re a civilian. It is a disgrace that we allow people to parade that kind of thought in here,” Santos said.
The individual referenced by Santos spoke with media following the incident and identified himself as Shabd Singh, and a Jewish-American. He told Fox he was following former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., through the hallways, questioning him about the “war crimes” being committed by the Israeli military against Gaza, when he saw Santos and began asking him the same questions.
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“He accused me of being in his personal space, so I took a step back, He was holding a child in his arms and saying that it was inappropriate of me to ask him questions in that scenario. I continued to ask him those questions. He refused to respond,” Singh said.
“He then found me here in this hallway and accosted me and began yelling at me, essentially framing what I am saying as some sort of anti-Semitic trope,” he added.
Singh was then detained by Capitol Police.
Santos declined to share the identity of the baby for privacy reasons.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed reporting.