Charges dropped against anti-Israel protesters who wreaked havoc near U.S. Capitol

At least 11 anti-Israel protesters had misdemeanor charges dropped after being arrested during a spate of protests in Washington during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress. 

The District of Columbia attorney general’s office said the protesters who will not be prosecuted had been charged with crossing police lines and disorderly conduct for inciting violence and causing unreasonable fear. 

Charges are still pending against five people arrested during the mayhem that included burning U.S. flags and scrawling swastikas and antisemitic slogans on monuments in front of D.C.’s Union Station.

Of the 11 people whose charges were dropped, at least eight faced more serious charges under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia.

Eight protesters charged with assault on police officers and second-degree theft appeared in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday. They were ordered to stay away from Union Station and return to court for hearings in late August, according to reports.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, demanded that the arrested and charged protesters receive the same treatment as the people arrested in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.

While scores of demonstrators spray-painted monuments and attacked police, only 23 people were arrested and charged by the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Park Police.

Some arrests were made inside the Capitol. 

Capitol Police arrested and charged six people for disrupting Mr. Netanyahu’s speech.

All of the people removed from the guest gallery in the House chamber were family members of a hostage taken by Hamas who were either still held or died in captivity after the Oct. 7 attack. Five of the protesters wore yellow shirts with “Seal the Deal” written on the front, which refers to a cease-fire deal that includes Hamas releasing the remaining 120 hostages.

Correction: An earlier version of this report mischaracterized U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Patricia Hartman’s response that, though some charges were dropped, eight protesters still faced more serious charges such as assaulting police officers.