In what U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider described on social media Friday as “a vile act of hate,” posters of Gaza hostages displayed outside the north suburban congressman’s Washington office were vandalized.
“My Capitol office was vandalized yesterday in a vile act of hate in which the posters of the more than 100 people still held hostage in Gaza (including 8 Americans) were ripped from the wall, shredded and tossed across the hallway,” Schneider wrote on X, formerly Twitter. He also posted a photo of flyers strewn down a Capitol office hall.
Schneider’s post came less than a week after pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside his Highland Park home in the early hours on June 29, in a demonstration he compared to a Ku Klux Klan rally.
The United States Capitol Police in an email said it was investigating the incident and declined to comment further. Representatives from Schneider’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The two incidents have occurred as the latest conflict in Gaza is heading into its 10th month following a raid on Oct. 7 into southern Israel by Hamas fighters who killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 others as hostages. Israel has faced heavy criticism for civilian casualties since then, and Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported tens of thousands of deaths.
Schneider, who is Jewish, wrote that vandalism of images of Gaza hostages was “un-American” and “a shameful act on any day, but especially on July 4, our country’s Independence Day.”
In his social media thread, Schneider also doubled down against the dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters who came to his home late last month. Schneider said the protesters were “banging drums, blowing horns and screaming antisemitic chants.”
“This is more like the Ku Klux Klan coming in the middle of the night with covered faces, like they’re going to burn a cross,” Schneider said Sunday of the demonstration. “This is intimidation and scare tactics.
The congressman, who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has been a staunch supporter of Israel. In March, he was one of eight members of the House to spend four days in Israel and meet with officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Schneider has said for years that he supports a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict.
“These actions don’t advance peace,” he said at the end of his social media post. “Instead, they play directly into the hands of Hamas terrorists enabling them to continue to hold hostage not only those they kidnapped from Israel, but all civilians in Gaza as well.”
