Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) said she was “more rattled” by an anti-Israel protest outside of a Democratic National Committee building on Wednesday than she was by the January 6 attack on the Capitol Building.
Dingell was prevented from leaving through two exits blocked by protesters Wednesday evening, and at one of them encountered a female police officer receiving medical treatment after having been pepper-sprayed.
The congresswoman told The Detroit News that the episode “rattled me more than January 6th did.”
“I was scared,” said Dingell. “Someone is going to get hurt at one of these things. They can get out of control.”
The three highest ranking Democrats in the House of Representatives, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) were all also inside of the DNC building at the time.
At least six police were injured by protesters outside of the building, and the Capitol Police released a statement insisting that the demonstration “was not peaceful” and “failed to obey our lawful orders to move back from the DNC, where Members of Congress were in the building.”
The statement continued:
When the group moved dumpsters in front of the exits, pepper sprayed our officers and attempted to pick up the bike rack, our teams quickly introduced consequences – pulling people off the building, pushing them back, and clearing them from the area, so we could safely evacuate the Members and staff.
Six officers were treated for injuries, from minor cuts to being pepper sprayed to being punched.
24-year old Ruben Arthur Camacho of Woodbridge, NY, was arrested for Assault on a Police Officer after an officer witnessed Camacho slam another officer into a garage door and then punch the female officer in the face.
Jeffries, Clark, and Aguilar also released a statement acknowledging that the protesters “escalated their activity in a manner that exceeded a peaceful demonstration” and thanked the Capitol Police for their efforts.