CODEPINK activist Medea Benjamin arrested for Gaza protest at House hearing

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - Medea Benjamin, an activist and co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK, was arrested Tuesday after she disrupted US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's address at a House of Representatives hearing.

Anadolu footage shows Benjamin being placed into a police vehicle and taken away. Anadolu contacted Capitol Police for comment but did not receive a response.

Benjamin, holding a pink "Let Gaza Live" banner, stood up during the House Armed Services committee hearing and questioned the notion of leadership while accusing the US of supporting "genocide" in Gaza.

"How can you speak about US leadership when we are supporting genocide in Gaza?" she shouted.

"Stop supporting genocide!" she shouted at Austin before being escorted out of the room. She mistakenly referred to Austin as the secretary-general at one point.

Benjamin has been known for staging demonstrations at the Capitol building, protesting the Biden administration for its support for Israel amid its attacks on Gaza.

Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Palestinian enclave since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 which killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and thousands injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli onslaught, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.