Greene requests Capitol Police preserve footage, police reports from House protest demanding Israel-Hamas cease-fire

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is requesting U.S. Capitol Police preserve all surveillance footage and photos, police reports and arrest records from all House office buildings Wednesday following a large protest on Capitol Hill that demanded a cease-fire in Israel and Gaza.

A large group of protestors began a demonstration inside the Cannon House Office Building on Wednesday, urging Congress to act on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip.

The protest, organized by Jewish groups Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow, involved numerous demonstrators chanting “cease-fire now,” and holding banners with the same message.

Posting a copy of a letter she sent to Capitol Police Chief John Thomas Manger, Greene wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that she was “formally requesting” Capitol Police “preserve all video surveillance footage, photographic evidence, police reports, and arrest records from all House Office Buildings on October 18, 2023.”

“By launching an insurrection in the Capitol complex, these actors caused elevators to be shut down, staircases and hallways to be blocked, exits to be made inaccessible, and official legislative business to be obstructed, putting Members of Congress, their staffs and Capitol visits at risk,” Greene wrote in the letter.

The Georgia Republican called on the House Administration Committee to investigate the incident and review all footage and evidence from Capitol Police, writing that the “insurrectionists involved must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Greene railed against the protests in a series of posts on X, calling the protest “an insurrection of Capitol Hill.”

Greene also claimed Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who spoke to a crowd of demonstrators Wednesday, was leading the protest, calling her a “Hamas Caucus Leader.”

Tlaib, along with Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) who also spoke to demonstrators, have called on the Biden administration to work toward an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Capitol Police did not confirm the total number of protestors arrested, but said arrests were “ongoing” and that three people had been charged with assault of a police officer.

While there remains no confirmation of how many protestors were involved in the demonstration, JVP claimed 10,000 people gathered outside the Capitol, while 500 were inside “to demand an end to the Israeli and U.S. government’s genocide in Gaza.”

The protests come amid the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas, which launched attacks on Israeli villages, farms and military outposts more than a week ago in an assault that left more than 1,300 dead. The Israel military claims Hamas has also taken 199 people hostage.

Israel has since sent hundreds of retaliatory airstrikes into Gaza and cut off the territory’s access to food, water and medicine. Israeli forces last ordered people to move south in advance of an expected ground assault on the territory, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. 

At least 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza due to the conflict, with another 12,000 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s Thursday update.