Hundreds of people who entered a U.S. House office building Wednesday afternoon have been arrested after demonstrating to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
A U.S. Capitol Police spokesperson told NBC News that officials believe everyone went through security and entered the Cannon House Office Building according to guidelines. U.S. House and Senate office buildings, including Cannon, are open to the public, but those who enter must go through security screenings. However, demonstrations are not permitted inside congressional buildings, police say.
Protesters, including rabbis, demonstrated from the main floor and from several balconies, singing, praying, holding signs and banners, and chanting "Ceasefire now!" Scores of them were clad in black T-shirts bearing the message, "Jews Say Ceasefire Now."
"Close to 300" people were in custody, a spokesperson for U.S. Capitol Police told NBC Washington about 6 p.m. Wednesday, more than three hours after the rally began inside the congressional office building.
Officers were still processing the arrests, so they don't have exact numbers yet. Among those who were arrested, three have been charged with assault on a police officer during processing, police said.
The demonstrators had come from a rally hosted by Jewish Voice for Peace, which led a massive crowd from the National Mall to the U.S. Capitol in the afternoon. The protest inside Cannon began about 2:30 p.m. Organizers said 300 to 400 protesters participated inside the building.
News4 reporters at the scene described protesters as peacefully taking over the rotunda to risk arrest and call lawmakers’ attention, to get them to support the ceasefire.
"We warned the protestors to stop demonstrating and when they did not comply we began arresting them," U.S. Capitol Police said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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The group behind the demonstration, Jewish Voice for Peace, describes itself as the "largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world."
At 5 p.m., the group was still in the Cannon rotunda chanting "Free Palestine" and singing. Within an hour, though, police announced the rotunda had been cleared and said they were continuing to process the arrests.
Police departments from neighboring Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland, sent officers to assist. A spokesperson with Montgomery County said their officers helped with crowd management outside the buildings.
U.S. Capitol Police closed several roads in the area Wednesday afternoon, but they have since reopened.
In a statement, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) criticized the demonstrators' message, saying that the group led by Jewish Voice for Peace was opposing "Israel's clear right to defend itself against Hamas terrorists."
"Although they claim to do so, these far-left radical organizations do not represent the overwhelming majority Jewish community. Rather, these groups are anti-Zionists that challenge Israel's very right to exist," the ADL's D.C. Regional Director Meredith R. Weisel said in a statement.
