US Park Police union reveals why few arrests were made during anti-Israel riot in DC
'Our officers on the ground did everything they could to protect life and property.'
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The union for the U.S. Park Police released a statement to explain why so few rioters were arrested at Columbus Circle on Wednesday, where American flags were torn down and set on fire and the Christopher Columbus statue was defaced with pro-Hamas graffiti.
Out of the hundreds who took part in the rioting outside of Union Station, within sight of the U.S. Capitol, Park Police were able to arrest only nine people. The USPP Fraternal Order of Police said that was because they had just 29 officers assigned to Columbus Circle, a fact the union attributes to an overall lack of manpower.
The riot was caused by people who were taking part in a march to oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to Congress.
'Yesterday was an epic failure.'
"Our officers on the ground did everything they could to protect life and property. In fact, despite having only 29 officers available to mitigate damage - 29! - with no additional help from the Department of the Interior, we processed several arrests...That's why it's so disheartening to hear some Members of Congress and members of the media, many of whom describe themselves as 'champions' of law enforcement, suggesting that officers have protesters a 'pass' or that insufficient arrests were made," chairman of the USPP FOP Kenneth Spencer wrote.
"Nothing could further from the truth - anyone who truly cares to understand the problem would see that our officer staffing crisis is at the root of our agency's readiness.... We simply did not have the staffing or resources to accomplish a mass arrest operation," Spencer continued.
Spencer went on to accuse the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service of having "stood in the way" of passing the Modernization Act, which he believes would help solve the manpower shortage. "If Congress wants a more effective law enforcement response to events like those that occurred yesterday," Spencer's statement concluded, "they need to pass the Modernization Act this year!"
That sentiment was echoed by a source within the D.C. police department, "Yesterday was an epic failure."
Capitol Police were also in the vicinity of Columbus Circle, along with police from nearby jurisdictions, but Park Police were the only ones who went in to try and prevent the American flags from being burned. The other agencies eventually supported Park Police after they had withdrawn from the crowd.
While Park Police officers were able to save one of the flags, the other two that are positioned outside of Union Station were torn down and burned. The anti-U.S. crowd then placed Palestinian flags on the flagpoles.
After the anti-Netanyahu march was over and congressional votes were concluded for the evening, GOP members of Congress, led by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), replaced the American flags at Columbus Circle.
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Julio Rosas
Julio Rosas is Blaze Media's National Correspondent.