Anti-Israel radicals staged an insurrection in the California State Assembly on Wednesday, shutting down the first day of the state legislative session and forcing lawmakers to flee. There were no arrests, as insurrectionists were allowed to linger in the chamber.
Just now — pro-Palestinian protestors in the California Assembly gallery interrupt the first floor session with calls for a ceasefire, forcing them to end early. @CASpeakerRivas and others leave the chamber. pic.twitter.com/Mlou6P7wBN
— Lara Korte (@lara_korte) January 3, 2024
Gaza ceasefire protesters shutdown California assembly proceedings, force early adjournment
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) January 3, 2024
The disruption was staged bythree so-called “Jewish” groups whose claim to Jewish identity is never verified and who, at best, represent a radical fringe of the American Jewish community. Two of the three groups have a history of support for terrorism.
The Sacramento Bee reported:
Protesters calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on Wednesday shut down the California Assembly on the Legislature’s first Capitol floor session of the new year.
Hundreds of demonstrators from Jewish anti-war organizations packed the Rotunda and the Assembly gallery and began chanting, singing and unveiling banners around 1:30 p.m., just as lawmakers reconvened in Sacramento after a months-long recess.
…
Lawmakers had differing reactions to the protest, which Legislative Jewish Caucus leaders said “shut down the democratic process.” Some Assembly members on the floor when the demonstration began immediately left the room and looked visibly upset.
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Protesters sang “cease-fire now” as lawmakers began leaving the chamber, although a few lingered on the floor and in the back of the room. None of the California Highway Patrol sergeants who provide security at the Capitol removed or arrested any of the demonstrators, who continued singing and chanting to a largely empty room. They remained even after the lights in the Assembly chamber were shut off after the adjournment, continuing to sing while turning on their cell phone flashlights.
The most common charge against those who entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was “obstructing an official proceeding.” No such charges will be brought against the insurrectionists in Sacramento, though they did the same.
Politico noted: “It’s the third time in recent months that cease-fire demonstrators have disrupted a major political event in California, highlighting a widening rift between progressive activists and more mainstream Democrats over the conflict.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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