Only 29 Park Police Officers Faced Thousands of Anti-Israel Protestors Due to Budget Cuts

Washington, D.C. saw a tsunami of anti-America/Israel protestors Wednesday afternoon. Outside of the city’s Union Station, pro-terrorist mobs burned the American flags that fly outside the travel hub and replaced them with Palestinian flags. Paper mâché sculptures of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were also lit aflame, and the angry crowd screamed threats, such as, “Hamas is coming” and, “Allahu Akbar.” And as The Daily Wire pointed out, “U.S. Park Police were woefully understaffed as they faced a large mob of violent far-Left extremists.”

For those who did show up, they quickly found themselves in the middle of utter chaos, being verbally and physically attacked by rebellious, juvenile-minded protestors. According to Chairman of the U.S. Park Police Fraternal Order of Police Kenneth Spencer, they “did everything they could to protect life and property.” I mean, there’s only so much you can do when you’re outnumbered by cynical, angry, delusional activists.

“In fact,” Spencer continued, “despite having only 29 officers available to mitigate damage — 29! — with no additional help from the Department of the Interior, we processed several arrests for charges ranging from assault on a police officer to destruction of government property.” Considering this, he emphasized, “[I]t’s so disheartening to hear some Members of Congress and members of the media, many of whom describe themselves as ‘champions’ of law enforcement, suggesting that officers gave protesters a ‘pass’ or that insufficient arrests were made.”

As Spencer noted, 10 protestors were reportedly arrested. “We simply did not have the staffing or resources to accomplish a mass arrest operation,” and “anyone who truly cares to understand the problem would see that our officer staffing crisis is at the root of our agency’s mission readiness.” Indeed, Spencer went a step further to emphasize how the officers feel — and have been feeling — “alone.”

As the New York Post wrote, the 15-year-old veteran “revealed that years of ‘empty promises’ to beef up the agency’s shoestring budget have gone unfulfilled by Congress and the Interior Department, which primarily deals with the nation’s rural national parks rather than civil unrest in big cities.” And it’s not just the police getting the short end of the stick. “Especially in the D.C. area,” Spencer emphasized, “everybody’s so understaffed just like we are.”

In response to Spencer’s complaints, House National Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) wrote in a letter sent to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, “it has come to my attention that, despite specific requests by the USPP for additional resources, the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Park Service failed to provide adequate additional support for the USPP, such as providing additional law enforcement units from within DOI to enhance USPP’s presence within the national Capital Region.”

After writing that the blame for Wednesday’s chaos can be “directly correlated to the failure of DOI leadership to provide adequate staffing and support to the USPP,” he urged, “I call on you to immediately address the USPP’s requests and provide additional officers and support for the USPP in the Washington D.C. area.”

But to give credit where credit is due, Westerman shared with the Post, “[I]f the Park Police only had 29 officers there to deal with that crowd, I would say they did a remarkable job of keeping things under control as well as they did.” Ultimately, many are blaming the out-of-control protest on Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris. “It’s way too little, too late for them to come out and condemn things,” Westerman contended.

Concerning the weak police presence, observers have pointed out similar patterns from Wednesday’s events to that of previous events such as the infamous January 6 protests and even former President Donald Trump almost being assassinated. One user posted on X, “Why doesn’t DOJ relentlessly hunt them down [and] capture them?” Someone else asked, “Will the FBI be stepping in to assist in the investigation, arrests, and charges or are they still busy chasing down grandmas praying at the capitol on J6?” Another stated, “Seems like a reoccurring theme,” with another pointing out, “They said the same thing about President Trump’s security at the rally.”

To that latter point, it comes only days after Secret Service Chief Kimberly Cheatle resigned after she faced “two impeachment measures, potential perjury charges, and dozens of calls to quit or be fired.” It was only to be expected, as the pressure was on with members of Congress demanding explanations for how Trump’s would-be-assassin was able to get through security and take shots at the former president at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.

Now, whether any of these alleged connections are legitimate, it stands to reason that Americans are in a state of unease. With the assassination attempt only shortly behind us, Biden recently pulling out of the 2024 presidential race, ongoing tensions between those who are pro- and anti-Israel, and other similar concerns, Americans want clarity. They want leaders they can trust, and they want to feel safe in their own neighborhoods. They don’t want their routes to work blocked by violent protestors, and they don’t want to feel as though their police are too “understaffed” to help them in times of need. It’s time for things to change, and persistent voices speaking up on these matters may just be the first step to seeing that happening.