D.C. Park Police Describe Coming Under Assault From Violent Mob as Officers Rush To Defend American Flags at Anti-Israel Protest

New details from a shocking police report describe how a mob of anti-Israel protesters assaulted park police outside Washington D.C.’s Union Station on Wednesday when the officers tried to defend American flags from being defaced.Violent demonstrations rocked the nation’s capital on Wednesday in response to a visit by Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who attended the memorial service for Senator Lieberman and addressed a joint session of Congress. National Park Service workers replace one of the flags fronting Union Station on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. The flags were removed during the protests surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of Congress. Kent Nishimura/Getty ImagesAccording to sworn statements from various Park Police officers in the police report, the mob of protestors at Columbus Circle, directly in front of the train station, repeatedly interfered with arrests of their fellow agitators, refused to obey orders to back away, and even assaulted the officers. The testimony, as told, portrays a heroic defense of Old Glory by a severely undermanned Parks Police cohort.One of the officers at the scene, Sergeant Cox, entered the crowd and approached the Columbus Circle flagpole after he saw individuals “10-15 feet off the ground manipulating rope and unraveling it from the pole,” he reported.“As I entered the crowd, the flag was lowered to the ground.” he said. “When I was within 5 feet of the flagpole, [a] male in [a] red shirt was in possession of the American flag and [an] individual dressed in all black was also trying to remove it from the pole.”Protestors burn a photo of Benjamin Netanyahu outside of Union Station on July 24, 2024 at Washington, DC. Michael A. McCoy/Getty ImagesWhile one of the offenders ran away immediately, Mr. Cox was able to detain their fellow flag-defiler, later identified as Roger Miller. Soon after, however, Mr. Cox and the arrestee were surrounded by an “agitated” mob of protestors who, he wrote, “attempted to interfere with the arrestee.” National Park Service workers attempt to remove graffiti at Union Station on July 25, 2024 at Washington, DC. The flags were removed during the protests surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of Congress which occured as the Israel Hamas war inches closer to a ten month anniversary. Kent Nishimura/Getty ImagesAs protestors clashed with the line of police in front of him, Mr. Cox reported feeling a group of people “push” him from behind. One of the protesters broke through the police line. The culprit was subsequently apprehended, detained, and eventually identified as 19-year-old Paul Fairfield. The mob continuously defied the officers’ commands to back up and even followed law enforcement personnel as they retreated to the northeast side of the park. Activists cheer as they burn flags and a puppet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a pro-Palestinian protest near the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024 at Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesMr. Cox reported smelling smoke after the protestors removed two other flags from the flagpoles at Columbus Circle and lit them on fire. A shopping cart, among other items were also set ablaze. Another officer, Officer Mogavero, was able to grab one flag-defiler who had attempted to flee the scene, later identified as Nathanial Brayden Lawrence. Mr. Mogavero reported that protestors surrounded the two of them, tried to help him escape police custody, and began assaulting the surrounding officers. National Park Service workers replace one of the flags fronting Union Station on July 25, 2024 at Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images“The tearing down of the flag along with the subsequent arrest of Lawrence helped to incite the crowd to commit violence to include assaulting officers,” Mr. Mogavero wrote in his testimony. One protestor, later identified as Essa Elies Ejelat, held his phone up at Mr. Mogavero and shouted, “BEHIND THAT BADGE, I WILL FUCK YOU UP!” the officer reported. Ejelat had previously been charged with obstruction at an anti-Israel protest in New York City. A third offender, apprehended by Office Dugan, was also arrested. She was later identified as Sonia Krishan — a 21-year-old former beauty queen. Dugan and another officer, Officer Kapetanakis, pulled Ms. Krishan down from a flagpole.In his own testimony, a 5th officer, Officer Brookman, said he “observed a group of individuals standing around a flagpole on the north side of Columbus Circle and the group began lowering the American flag.”Officer Brookman and other officers, he said, “immediately respond[ed] to the flag pole in an attempt to prevent further taking of the flag.”On Wednesday, the chairman of the Park Police Fraternal Order, Kenneth Spencer, had railed against the “officer staffing crisis” in a statement and said that the small police force managed 10 arrests while “being assaulted by a mob of thousands.”While 23 people were arrested in the demonstrations, the D.C. attorney general’s office dropped cases against 11 for misdemeanor crimes, according to the Washington Post. Eight people who were charged by the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. for harsher crimes including assault on a police officer, making threats and attempted second-degree theft, will face hearings at the end of August.

D.C. Park Police Describe Coming Under Assault From Violent Mob as Officers Rush To Defend American Flags at Anti-Israel Protest

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