Pro-Palestinian Activists Crash Biden's DNC Speech As He Says They 'Have A Point'
Pro-Palestinian activists sought to bring attention to the war in Gaza during President Joe Biden’s speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
According to reporters inside the convention hall, some people in the audience held up a banner, featuring the colors of the Palestinian flag, that read, “STOP ARMING ISRAEL,” minutes into Biden’s speech.
Videos shared of the incident on social media show those seated in front of the protesters holding up their “I [heart] Joe” signs to block the sight of the banner as security officials repeatedly tried to pull it down. Some in the audience also broke into “We love Joe” chants.
A video posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Akela Lacey of The Intercept shows a man standing a few rows behind the protesters hitting one of them on the head with a pro-Biden sign. In a follow-up post, Lacey wrote that eventually the man’s “colleagues got him to stop.”
Organizers turned off the lights in that section of the auditorium as the activists were escorted out.
The Associated Press reported the activists belonged to the “Abandon Biden” movement, which was recently renamed to “Abandon Harris” to reflect the change at the top of the Democratic ticket. The group has been calling on Americans to withhold their vote for Democrats over the party’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
A different group of activists present in the room turned their backs on Biden while he was delivering his address, holding one hand over their mouths, while displaying a sign reading “not another bomb” in the other, according to NBC News.
Biden spent part of his speech referring to his administration’s efforts to strike a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and increase the flow of