The day after anti-Israel rioters burned American flags and tagged areas near Washington’s Union Station with antisemitic graffiti—ostensibly in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress—Kamala Harris, the U.S. vice president, denounced what she called “unpatriotic” behavior.
“Yesterday, at Union Station in Washington, D.C., we saw despicable acts by unpatriotic protestors and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric,” the presumptive Democratic nominee for president stated. “I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews. Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation.”
Harris also condemned the rioters for burning the American flag, “a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation” that “represents the promise of America” and “should never be desecrated in that way.” She added that she supports “the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation.”