Protesters occupy Representative Adam Smith’s office to demand Gaza ceasefire

RENTON, Wash. — Representative Adam Smith’s office was occupied by anti-war protesters Friday. Their goal was to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

The event was documented on a Facebook livestream. The live video ends with police escorting some of the protesters out in handcuffs.

“There’s some kind of disconnect here like, why can’t he get on the phone and talk to us?” said one protester. “I don’t understand that.”

Officials let protesters stay until the building closed at 5 p.m. That’s when they called the Renton police who broke up the demonstration.

Representative Smith’s team sent KIRO 7 a statement about the whole ordeal:

Prior to yesterday’s protest, my office reached out to the Seattle DSA to arrange a meeting, and I remain open to meeting with them in the future to discuss our differences and where we can come together to make the world a safer and more peaceful place to live.

This is not the first time Smith has been targeted by anti-war activists. While he was recently out of town in December, his home was vandalized.

The reported graffiti allegedly displayed pro-Palestinian messages while demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“Both left-wing and right-wing extremists have taken to dehumanizing anybody who disagrees with them, said Smith after his home was vandalized. “We live in a representative democracy.”

“We need to be able to disagree and have a dialogue about it,” he continued.

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