Anti-Israel demonstrators interrupted Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s State of the State address at the Capitol in Hartford on Wednesday.
Some of the demonstrators chanted, “Cease-fire now! Cease-fire now!”
The Democratic governor stopped speaking while they were removed.
Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupt Gov. Ned Lamont’s State of the State Address chanting “Cease fire now.” pic.twitter.com/f0FEoOWbl7
— Alison Cross (@Alison_Cross_) February 7, 2024
“I’ve … been to a few antiwar demonstrations as well in my day,” Lamont said afterward, according to the Hartford Courant.
“And whatever the justice of the cause, I think you do a disservice when you’re rude and disrespectful in a room like this, disrespecting the people in this room, disrespecting the audience,” he said, bringing applause from the assembly.
Lamont’s response received a standing ovation from lawmakers. pic.twitter.com/W1wYCfcFAz
— Alison Cross (@Alison_Cross_) February 7, 2024
Did you think this was funny?
Before returning to the speech, the governor said, “Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming,” according to CT Insider.
The protesters hung banners all over the gallery, according to the report.
One of them read, “No U.S. funding for Israel’s genocide in Palestine.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters shouted, “Ceasefire now” outside chamber, but then came inside gallery and continued chant pic.twitter.com/T2v9tUxHGX
— Christopher Keating (@chrispkeating) February 7, 2024
Police removed about 25 people who were protesting on the first floor of the Connecticut House of Representatives, according to Connecticut Public Radio.
Another 10 or 12 protesters were removed from the gallery above where Lamont was speaking.
Outside, the demonstration took aim at firearms manufacturers in Connecticut.
“Connecticut Stop Arming Israel,” protesters chanted.
The Courant noted that such interruptions are not uncommon. On Monday, about 50 protesters disrupted the State of the City speech of New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.
Last night in New Haven, during Mayor Justin Elicker’s State of the City address, pro-Hamas, antisemites literally shouted him out of the room. pic.twitter.com/27qFYGayYv
— Tom Shattuck (@tomshattuck) February 6, 2024
In a recent Op-Ed for The Hill, Bernard Goldberg said anti-Israel protesters have a one-dimensional outlook.
“Have you noticed how these progressive protestors make demands only on Israel and demand nothing of the terrorists who slaughtered more than 1,000 Israelis on October 7?” he wrote.
“How is it that so many feminists believed every unsubstantiated sexual allegation made against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — but have gone silent on the documented evidence of sexual violence against Jewish women by Hamas terrorists?” Goldberg said.
“No one at those demonstrations demanded that Hamas stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields. No one said it’s morally wrong to hide weapons of war in or near schools or hospitals,” he wrote.
