The California Democratic Party canceled an evening of events at its convention in Sacramento this weekend after demonstrators demanding a cease-fire in Gaza overwhelmed venue security and entered the convention hall Saturday night.
Groups of delegates initially interrupted a Saturday afternoon forum with U.S. Senate candidates with calls for a cease-fire in Gaza. The group moved into the lobby of the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center then re-entered the convention hall as the final candidate was speaking.
Despite increased security for the gathering, party chair Rusty Hicks said “a small number of non-Delegate protesters circumvented venue security” to interrupt the Saturday afternoon session.
Later, a large group of protestors entered the convention hall again, prompting the party to cancel nighttime caucus meetings and social events “for the safety and security of our delegates and convention participants,” said spokesperson Shery Yang.
Two venue security guards were injured during the events, according to the party.
J and 13th streets were shut down for several hours. The Sacramento Police Department did not make any arrests or citations in connection with the protests.
On Sunday morning, Hicks called the events “unacceptable” and said the party is investigating. He said any delegate who participated in or aided the disruptions would be “held accountable according to the party’s bylaws.”
Earlier Saturday, Oakland delegate and longtime Democratic campaign staffer Keane Chukwuneta called it “frustrating” to see a lack of responsiveness from party leaders on the conflict.
“That’s the future of the party right there,” he said, gesturing to a group of protestors outside the convention hall. “It’s up to everybody else to listen or not listen.”
Chukwuneta, a longtime campaign staffer, studied the Middle East in college and said it is the reason he got into politics to begin with.
“I’m wondering about how I’m going to be engaging in Democratic politics going forward. This doesn’t really feel like a place for me,” he said.
State Assembly member Jesse Gabriel and Sen. Scott Wiener, co-chairs of the Legislative Jewish Caucus, condemned the protests and said some Jewish delegates “now believe it is unsafe to participate.”
They noted demonstrators chanted “from the river to the sea,” a phrase seen as anti-Israel. “Storming through security and shutting down a democratic process — particularly with chants calling for the destruction of Israel and appearing to justify the Hamas attack — is completely unacceptable,” they said in a joint statement.
Before the convention kicked off, Hicks told reporters the tightened security “reflects a recognition that we are in a tense moment” and had been in the works before the Democratic National headquarters were evacuated earlier that week.
At the outset of the convention the party chair called for an end to the war and release of hostages, but did not call for a cease-fire.
Protestors interrupt Senate candidates unsuccessfully seeking an endorsement
The turbulence began Saturday afternoon, when several U.S. Senate candidates were interrupted during a forum by delegates chanting for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Rep. Barbara Lee, who previously called for a ceasefire, was not interrupted during her remarks and instead received thunderous applause when she mentioned her lone vote in 2001 against the authorization of war in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Groups of delegates chanted during speeches by Rep. Katie Porter, Rep. Adam Schiff and tech executive Lexi Reese.
Lee has trailed her competitors in the polls but was a favorite of the delegates, who generally lean further to the left than the state’s Democratic base, with 41% voting to endorse her.
But no candidate reached the necessary 60% required to win the party’s endorsement in the March primary.
Schiff narrowly trailed Lee with 40% and Porter won support from more than 16% of delegates. Reese did not reach 1%.
The weekend protests symbolize a rift within the Democratic party on Israel’s war with Hamas ahead of elections in 2024.
Recent polls show Democrats are divided over where their sympathies lie in the conflict. While white and older Democrats — and 61% of Americans overall — sympathize more with Israel, members of the party who are younger or people of color say they sympathize with Palestine.
While California Democratic Party officials labeled the protestors “non-delegates,” several delegates did join chants in support of a cease-fire.
The party’s platform calls for a “solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” but it was not updated in response to the conflict.
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