Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland urging a federal response to the violence that occurred on Sunday at the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles.
“I write urging immediate action against a pro-Hamas mob’s recent assault on a Jewish community,” Cotton wrote on Tuesday. “The mob attacked Jews with bear spray, beat a man until his face and shirt were covered in blood, and chanted ‘intifada revolution.’”
Noting that the anti-Israel activists had announced their plans in advance and that members of the synagogue had requested police protection, the senator wrote that “city officials allowed the mob to grow out of control.” Cotton cited reports noting that “elected officials even told the Los Angeles Police Department to stand down initially, with police sent to intervene only after violence broke out.”
Pointing to the spring demonstrations on college campuses throughout the United States, Cotton challenged the Biden administration, saying its inaction had “emboldened these extremists to escalate their attacks.”
He called on the U.S. Department of Justice and federal law enforcement to “take immediate action to protect the Jewish community and prosecute these mobs.”
The Arkansas senator concluded with a demand for information by July 1, wanting to know if the DOJ had received advanced warning of the protests; if the case had been referred to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division; and whether the DOJ would investigate “whether outside groups are funding and organizing these violent outbursts.”
