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“15,000 Kids Dead Is Not Self-Defense!”: Protesters Confront Jake Sullivan over Gaza Assault

HeadlineJun 12, 2024

In Washington, D.C., peace activists with CodePink disrupted a public address Tuesday by national security adviser Jake Sullivan. He was speaking at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum in Washington, D.C.

Ted Deutch: “Jake, thank you for being here with us today. We know” —

Olivia DiNucci: “Jake Sullivan, you are a war criminal! Fifteen thousand people — 15,000 kids dead is not self-defense!”

Ted Deutch: “Please get off the stage.”

Olivia DiNucci: “Jake Sullivan, you are a war criminal!”

Ted Deutch: “Please, please, get off the stage.”

Olivia DiNucci: “Jake Sullivan, you are a war criminal!”

CodePink activists Olivia DiNucci and Medea Benjamin were quickly removed from the venue. Their protest came a day after officers with the Federal Protective Service fired a salvo of pepperball rounds to clear demonstrators who had erected a tent encampment outside a San Francisco federal building to protest U.S. support for Israel’s assault on Gaza. Elsewhere, President Joe Biden was interrupted Tuesday by a protester who accused him of being “complicit” in genocide.

President Joe Biden: “The main reason I’m here is to say, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart” —

Protester: “You’re complicit in genocide! Stop sending weapons to Israel!”

Crowd: [booing]

President Joe Biden: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

President Biden was speaking at a Washington, D.C., conference hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety. As the protester was led away, the crowd chanted, “Four more years!”

President Joe Biden: “Folks” —

Crowd: “Four more years!”

President Joe Biden: “It’s OK.”

Crowd: “Four more years!”

President Joe Biden: “Look” —

Crowd: “Four more years!”

President Joe Biden: “They care. Innocent children have been lost. They make a fair point.”

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