A Democrat member of Congress said that his home in Bellevue, Washington, had been vandalized by pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state released a statement about the vandalism on Friday on his social media account.
“Last night, my house was vandalized by people advocating for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza. This attack is sadly reflective of the coarsening of the political discourse in our country, and is completely unwarranted, unnecessary, and harmful to our political system,” said Smith.
He went on to condemn the extremism that has crept into current political debates.
“The extremism on both the left and right side of our political spectrum is a threat to a healthy, functioning democracy and has been condoned for far too long. The simple truth is that extremism on both sides is degrading to our political system and must be rooted out for our democracy to be able to persist,” he added.
The Bellevue Police Department confirmed that officers responded to a report of malicious mischief on Friday at about 9:13 a.m.
Jaelin O’Halloran, a spokesperson for Smith, said that his garage had been spray-painted with red paint, but his office refused to release photographs of the vandalism. They indicated that the U.S. Capitol Police was notified about the incident.
Israel restarted its military operations in the Gaza strip after agreeing to several days of a ceasefire in order to swap Palestinian prisoners with some hostages that were captured by Hamas terrorists.
Smith previously gave his support of Israel and its “goal of significantly degrading and ultimately eliminating the Hamas terrorist organization.”
He also condemned the vandalism of a synagogue in his congressional district last month, which he called “heartbreaking” and an “atrocity.”
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