A Senate hearing on a supplemental funding package to assist Israel in its war against Hamas descended into chaos Tuesday morning as more than a dozen hecklers have been detained after yelling at Secretary of State Antony Blinken for a “ceasefire now!”
The unrest boiled over immediately after Blinken began speaking at the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting, with the first heckler screaming at Blinken to “stop supporting the genocide and ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza.”
“Ceasefire now! Save the children of Gaza, save the children of Gaza!” the man shouted as his voice was cracking.
“Where is your pride America?” he asked the hearing room while being dragged out by security.
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Less than a minute later, another woman stood up behind Blinken holding a sign reading “No More $$$ 4 Israel” and began interrupting his statement.
“Not one senator is calling for a ceasefire, shame on you all!” she yelled.
Blinken then was interrupted several more times, with one of the protesters identifying herself as a former Army colonel and diplomat.
“I resigned on that war in Iraq that you talked about. That was a terrible thing. And what we’re doing right now in supporting Israel’s genocide of Gaza is a terrible thing, too,” she said.
Blinken never looked behind him as the chaos was unfolding, telling the committee that President Biden’s supplemental funding request for Congress “provides for our enduring support to Israel and Ukraine to democracies under brutal assault by actors determined to wipe their nations off the map.
“It will ensure that Israel can continue to defend its people by building on the diplomatic, security and intelligence support that the United States has surged since Hamas’s appalling slaughter,” he said, referencing the Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that launched the war.
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He later mentioned the protesters at the hearing, saying that “I also hear very much the passions expressed in this room and outside this room.
“All of us are committed to the protection of civilian life. All of us know the suffering that is taking place as we speak. All of us are determined to see it end. But all of us know the imperative of standing up with our allies and partners when their security, when their democracy is are threatened,” Blinken said. “That’s what’s happening now. We stand resolutely with them as we stand resolutely for the protection of innocent civilians.”
More than a dozen hecklers were removed from the hearing, and a large police presence has now formed outside the room.
“Secretary Blinken, I just really want to thank the Capitol Police for their very calm and professional manner. We all appreciate it,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said at one point.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.