U.S. Capitol Police officers arrested Janine Ali of Arlington, Va., in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Nov. 13 after witnessing an altercation between the 72-year-old and a woman with an Israeli flag.
Ali allegedly grabbed the flag that was tied around the unnamed victim’s neck at around 11:30 a.m. in the building cafeteria, according to a police report given to JNS. The victim says that her head was jerked back and that she choked as a result.
According to the police report, when officers asked Ali to step away from the group, the 72-year-old replied: “All I did was grab it.”
She was arrested on an assault charge. Ali has had a longtime presence at anti-Israel protests in the D.C. area over the years.
Photos of Washington-area protests appear to show Ali holding signs and demonstrating with far-left group Code Pink. She also appeared to stand behind Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) at a rally, according to an image provided to JNS.
“Proactive policing is the key, which is what we had in place yesterday,” Tim Barber, a Capitol Police spokesman, told JNS. “We knew two groups, with opposing views on the war, were on Capitol grounds, so we ensured we had plenty of officers, including highly trained civil disturbance officers, onsite in case anyone broke the law.”
“Because of that plan, one of our officers witnessed the suspect grab the person’s flag, so we immediately arrested the suspect,” he added.
