Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, sparked controversy on Monday when he urged people to take matters into their own hands and confront pro-Palestinian protesters who were blocking traffic in cities across the country. In a series of social media posts, Mr. Cotton endorsed the use of physical force against peaceful demonstrators, calling them “pro-Hamas” and “criminals.”
The senator shared a clip of himself during a recent interview in which he stated that if protesters had disrupted public roads in his home state of Arkansas, they would have been met with force from citizens. He even suggested that protesters who glued their hands to their cars or the pavement would face painful consequences.
On Tuesday morning, Mr. Cotton posted a video showing a group of men forcibly removing protesters from a roadway outside of the United States, with one man seen dragging a protester off the road by his feet. “How it should be done,” Mr. Cotton wrote in the caption.
However, law enforcement officials have emphasized that people should not take matters into their own hands and resort to violence. Officer Darrel Horner of the California Highway Patrol stated that drivers should let the authorities handle disruptions and warned that getting out of a vehicle to respond could lead to legal trouble.
Mr. Cotton’s comments come amidst heightened civil disobedience by protesters angry over U.S. support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza. The senator has previously ignited controversy with his calls for the use of military force to put down riots during civil unrest in 2020.
Other elected officials, such as Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, have also criticized the pro-Palestinian protesters but have not endorsed violence against them. Mr. Fetterman condemned the actions of protesters demonstrating in a Starbucks but did not call for them to be targeted.
As tensions continue to rise, it remains to be seen how the situation will be resolved and whether peaceful demonstrations will be able to continue without facing threats of violence.
