Virginia State Police cleared the anti-Israel encampment constructed near the home of Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday after it subsisted for over six months.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) worked with the Virginia State Police to clear the encampment previously constructed on the shoulder of Chain Bridge Road near Blinken’s home on Saturday, with VDOT stating to WTOP the encampment was “unsafe for motorists, bikers and pedestrians and blocks access to emergency vehicles and personnel.”
VDOT told the outlet, “Due to these unsafe conditions, the road has been returned to its original state in order to ensure the safety of the traveling public on Virginia’s roadways.”
Video posted to the social media platform X appears to show the construction of the encampment in January, suggesting protestors have attempted to maintain the encampment for more than six months.
Democracy Now reported the encampment lasted 183 days, or just over six months, before it was dispersed by police on Saturday. Popular Resistance claimed more than 100 officers were involved in the removal of the anti-Israel encampment.
Far-left protesters are building an encampment outside the home of Secretary of State Antony Blinken to protest against Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. The far-left have been escalating their tactics, including recently trying to storm the White House.pic.twitter.com/qSNs85izyB
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 27, 2024
Anti-Israel encampments were constructed at college campuses and other high profile locations throughout the United States in the weeks after Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, when activists began protesting Israel’s war on the terrorist organization in Gaza.
While many encampments have since been dispersed, The Daily Wire reported earlier this month this encampment had persisted for nine months, and further, the protestors were allowed to continue occupying the area near Blinken’s home by Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti.
Dehghani-Tafti reportedly claimed to the outlet, “the facts and circumstances” presented by local police suggest “there is no basis in the law to charge the demonstrators.”
In 2019, Dehghani-Tafti received nearly $600,000 from controversial Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros when campaigning for office, according to German-owned Politico.
Just weeks prior to the encampment’s dispersal, The Daily Wire reported the protestors named the encampment Kibbutz Blinken and shared daily updates on social media.
In one such update, the outlet reported a protestor declared “Bloody Blinken” the “butcher of Gaza,” and shouted, “I hate to break your bubble of imperialist delusion while you starve children to death and torture people in concentration camps but Israel has been charged with the crime of extermination!”
The protest continued for months despite Virginia code specifically stating anyone engaged “in picketing before or about the residence or dwelling place of any individual, or who shall assemble with another person or persons in a manner which disrupts or threatens to disrupt any individual’s right to tranquility in his home, shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.”
Existing law also provides for the misdemeanor offenses to stack for each day such a protest continues.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Anti-Israel Protesters” by Andy Ngô.
