House Republicans: Why Didn’t Park Police Stop Anti-Israel Rioters From Vandalizing Federal Property?

How did violent anti-Israel, pro-Hamas rioters get away with destroying government property, burning American flags and an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and raising a Palestinian flag in place of Old Glory on July 24?

Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ariz., asked that at the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing, “Desecrating Old Glory: Investigating How the Pro-Hamas Protests Turned National Park Service Land Into a Violent Disgrace,” on Tuesday.

“D.C. is no stranger to protest and free speech demonstrations, but in this case, something went horribly wrong,” Westerman said.

On July 24, protesters swarmed Union Station in Washington, D.C., and tore down the three American flags that stood tall outside the transit hub and replaced them with Palestinian flags. 

The rally and march was a protest of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington to address a joint session of Congress. 

“Right off the bat, the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service also failed to provide critical support for the Park Police for this event,” Westerman said, “despite knowing well in advance that protests were expected.”

This was not a one-off incident, Westerman noted. The protesters defied the permit granted to the ANSWER Coalition by defacing the Columbus Fountain and other property.

Shortly after Hamas’ initial attack of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the ANSWER Coalition was one of the major organizations involved with launching the Shut It Down for Palestine Movement, Westerman said, which has spurred mass unrest on numerous college campuses nationwide.

“The group is expected back in D.C. on Jan. 20, 2025, to protest the presidential inauguration in an attempt to disrupt the events of the day,” Westerman said. “As our witnesses will testify, many of these organizations advocate for hateful and radical ideologies throughout America and have strong ties to terrorist organizations across the Middle East, including Hamas. They also have associations with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., chairman of the subcommittee, said it’s not surprising that the anti-Israel protest turned violent, leading the National Park Service to revoke the ANSWER Coalition’s permit for the event.

“This movement is part of a larger foreign effort to sow discord and distrust in our nation, spread anti- American sentiment, influence our politics, and radicalize our youth,” Gosar said.

“This is backing by some of our most dangerous adversaries and a faction of dark foreign money is gaining serious traction with youth on college campuses across the nation and particularly on social media,” he added. “The Chinese Communist Party has assembled a sophisticated, powerful network of influence with ties to radical advocacy organizations in the United States who attempt to influence our public discourse, disrupt major infrastructure, and espouse hateful ideologies that divide our nation.”

Meanwhile, the Arizona lawmaker said, Hamas and other terrorists benefit from spreading their messages across the United States by “exploiting our First Amendment for their own gain.”

Mark Lee Greenblatt, inspector general of the U.S. Department of the Interior and one of the witnesses at the hearing, said his office released a report on Monday saying it identified important public safety issues related to prohibited items brought to demonstrations by anti-Israel rioters.

“Specifically, in one permitted rally on the Ellipse, hundreds of people began arriving hours early before the event with prohibited items, including backpacks and bags,” Greenblatt said. “Once the attendees realized that bags could not be brought into the Ellipse area, they began abandoning them in various locations around the National Mall.”

“The officers said they were unable to sweep all of the bags because there were so many, and some of the bags were buried underneath other piles of other bags,” the inspector general continued. “These bags could easily have contained explosives or other dangerous items posing a risk to the health and safety of members of the public, law enforcement personnel, and even the president of the United States, who was in attendance.”

“The Park Service protects some of the most significant and meaningful icons and symbols of the United States,” Associate Director of Visitor and Resource Protection for the National Park Service
Charles Cuvelier said, “and we continue to fulfill this critical mission on behalf of the American public.”

Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., asked Cuvelier why the U.S. Park Police had only 29 officers to monitor what was expected to be a 5,000-person protest.

“With the 5,000 people actually on site, how many officers were on site to protect the nation’s capital at Union Station?” he asked.

“We had 174 personnel assigned to the event within the parameters of the permit,” he responded. “The permit included a number of streets, sidewalks, as well as Columbus Circle.”

Cuvelier did not respond to Yakym’s question as to how many officers were specifically at Union Station when protesters tore down and burned the American flag.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., questioned Cuvelier about the citizenship status of the four individuals arrested in the events surrounding the Union Station riot.

“Four people, and you don’t have that information available to you right now?” Rosendale asked emphatically.

Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., asked Cuvelier what he would have done differently with the benefit of hindsight.

“We get about 400 permits a year for First Amendment activity; another 2,400 for special park uses,” he said, rather than responding directly to the question.

“Did your intelligence work on in this particular protest?” Stauber asked.

“The intelligence we had did not indicate that there was going to be a violent permitted event,” he said.

Stauber asked again what in hindsight Cuvelier would do differently.

“As part of the planning cycle, what we’re going to do is require the permit applicant to be informed [as to] what they need to tell their participants to discourage the bringing of whatever’s prohibited for that event,” Cuvelier said.

Stauber asked whether Cuvelier would call the anti-Israel riot at Union Station, where a flag was burned, a “disgrace.”

Cuvelier hesitated before saying, “I think it’s important that the burning of the flag was not permitted under the event. It was, as we have described before, an abhorrent act in which we are trying to seek the individuals responsible for those actions.”

“For you not to be able to answer that, Sir, it’s very disheartening for me,” Stauber said. “That’s an easy answer. I’m disgusted.”

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, asked Greenblatt whether a group’s history of illegal activity factors into the U.S. Park Police’s decision to issue it a demonstration permit.

“As far as organizational records, we do not maintain records on organizations,” he said.

“You have violent groups, with a history of violence, history of destruction of property, history of support from terrorist organizations, known terrorist organizations, but yet you don’t keep records, but you receive intelligence,” Miller-Meeks said. “So, who provides that intelligence for you, so that you can make a rational decision on who to give a permit to, especially if they’ve engaged in criminal activity in the past when trying to exert their First Amendment rights?”

Greenblatt said the Park Police relies on the Capitol Police; Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department; and the Secret Service.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., asked whether Park Police could deny a permit from known terrorist organizations, such as ISIS or al-Qaida. Greenblatt said no such group has applied for a permit.

“I’m careful about engaging in hypotheticals that haven’t happened,” Greenblatt said.

“A bunch of terrorist supporters didn’t hypothetically tear down the American flag and fly a Palestinian flag on your property,” Van Orden said. “Don’t come here with that little, trite thing.”

Rep. Brandon Williams, R-NY, said it is “significant and meaningful” to stand up against riots.

“We are looking for leaders to stand up and make things right, including the gentleman, the Marine, on the New York City subway, [Daniel] Penny, who has just been acquitted of crime for which he never should have been tried because he stood up to make things right,” Williams said. “And as you see other people in your community making things right, it gives others courage, and if you see the leaders of this nation stand up and make things right, it will give others courage to do the same.”

A Manhattan jury found Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide after he held a 30-year-old homeless man, Jordan Neely, in a chokehold to protect surrounding passengers on a New York City subway train, who Neely had threatened, in May 2023.

Gosar asked Greenblatt whether it would prevent future violence on federal property if those who get a permit to demonstrate have to make an insurance down payment to increase accountability.

“The issue here is the barrier to entry, the barrier to obtaining a permit, given the First Amendment protections, which are so strong, particularly in these spaces, that it makes having that bond or insurance, a difficult proposition,” Greenblatt said. “Now, is there a possibility of threading that needle between the massive First Amendment protections out there, and the [National Park Service’s] requirements to protect our national, cultural heritage? That’s a possibility.”

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