Protesters break into Biden’s San Francisco hotel and demand a Gaza ceasefire: Demonstrators chant ‘you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide’
- Protesters mingled with guests before unfurling their ‘stop genocide’ banner
- Biden’s support for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has alienated progressives
About 30 protesters in Gaza infiltrated the hotel where President Joe Biden was staying in San Francisco on Thursday before chanting: “Ceasefire now.”
Biden was at the Fairmont hotel, where he earlier met the widow and daughter of Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in a Russian prison on Friday.
The protest group mingled with hotel guests before breaking out chants over a loudspeaker as Biden was set to leave.
“Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We accuse you of genocide,” they sang, as stunned guests watched in the hotel coffee shop.
About 30 demonstrators from Gaza entered the hotel where President Joe Biden was staying in San Francisco on Thursday and chanted: “Ceasefire now.”
The protest group mingled with hotel guests before breaking out chants using a loudspeaker as Biden was set to leave
Biden was at the Fairmont hotel, where he earlier met the widow and daughter of Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who died Friday in a Russian prison
They unfurled a banner that read: ‘Stop financing genocide: end all US aid to Israel.’
At least one protester wore a Jewish yarmulke or skullcap.
They followed the White House press pool around the hotel to make their point as Biden and his team prepared to leave.
Biden is on the final day of a three-day fundraiser through California.
The hotel was open to guests, who could enter the lobby and shops without any checks.
However, they did not go near the hotel’s tower wing, which has been sealed off by Secret Service agents.
He has largely avoided public expressions of anger over his unqualified support for Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where more than 28,000 people have been killed.
But the issue is playing its part, with the progressive wing increasingly vocal in its opposition to Israel’s offensive.
A small crowd of protesters gathered near a Beverly Hills home where he attended a campaign reception Tuesday evening. Some guests there donated as much as $250,000 for the honor of meeting the president.
At least 23 Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombardments of homes in central Gaza on Thursday, according to the enclave’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.