Rioters ripped down and burned American flags flying in front of Washington’s Union Station during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, hoisting Palestinian flags in their place.
Video taken at the scene shows one man attempting to save the smoldering flag, surrounded by a hostile crowd at Columbus Circle. He is then chased down by the rioters, who snatch the flag from him.
One woman can be heard shouting: “Get him!” before he is nearly tackled.
He runs for safety while someone shouts “Free, free Palestine!”
In his address to Congress, Netanyahu said Iran was funding the anti-Israel protests that have been roiling the United States since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. He also paid tribute to fraternity brothers at the University of North Carolina who earlier this year protected the American flag from a pro-Hamas mob.
“We recently learned from the U.S. director of national intelligence that Iran is funding and promoting anti-Israel protests in America. They want to disrupt America. So these protesters burned American flags even on the 4th of July,” he said.
“For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now outside this building,” he added.
“Well, I have a message for these protesters: When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots.”