Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he was “attacked” by an anti-Israel protester at the Republican National Convention (RNC), who was later arrested.
“While I was standing in line to enter an event at the Republican National Convention today, I was attacked by what appeared to be a member of the pro-Hamas group CODEPINK,” Van Orden said.
Code Pink, the firebrand liberal activist group, is a fixture on Capitol Hill, and these days it often clashes with politicians over policy toward Israel.
The Wisconsin Republican added that a police officer witnessed the incident and arrested the protester.
“This appears to be an incident of political violence and I will never tolerate it.”
The confrontation occurred just days after former President Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he was “assaulted” by an anti-Israel protester at the Republican National Convention (RNC) who was later arrested.
“Republicans have been intimidated and attacked for years, including the attempted assassination of President Trump, and we will no longer stand by and allow lawlessness,” Van Orden continued.
On Tuesday morning, police officers shot and killed a man carrying a knife less than a mile from the convention. The incident is believed to be unrelated to the convention.
Meanwhile, Van Orden is demanding that the House establish an emergency panel to investigate the attempted assassination of Trump, which he blamed on rhetoric from the media and Democrats.
“I hope it (the shooting) changes the mood of the press,” Van Orden said in an interview with DailyMail.com at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in his home state of Milwaukee.
‘For over a decade, the press, in cahoots with the Democratic Party, used to be the left wing of the Democrats, now it’s become mainstream. For over a decade they’ve been saying Trump is a Nazi. He’s Hitler. He’s a fascist, he’s going to destroy democracy. He’s against all American values. President Biden said it’s time to put a target on President Trump.’
Van Orden continued: “Put yourself in the shoes of this 20-year-old who’s trying to kill him. Since he was 11 or 12, he’s been hearing all these vitriolic lies about the president.”
Donald Trump arrived in Milwaukee for the Republican convention on Sunday, the day after an assassination attempt.
‘What else would make a 20-year-old kid stand on a roof knowing for sure that he would be killed if he shot the president, other than the fact that he had been radicalized by the leftist wing of the Democratic Party that became popular and that the media has projected onto him since he was 11?’
While the shooting prompted bipartisan condemnation and calls to tone down the rhetoric, some Republicans were quick to point out liberal hyperbole about Trump.
“Democrats and liberals in the media have called Trump a fascist. They’ve compared him to Hitler,” Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott posted on X.
“This is not an unfortunate incident,” Scott’s message continued. “This was an attempted murder by a madman inspired by the rhetoric of the radical left.”
The gunman, now deceased, was a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania, a registered Republican who had made a small donation to Biden’s campaign.
Van Orden said the Secret Service had “failed” that day in Butler, Pennsylvania, but stopped short of calling for anyone to be fired.
“When your only job is to make sure the former president doesn’t get shot, and the former president gets shot, there’s clearly a problem: You’ve failed in your primary mission.”
Van Orden said he implored House Speaker Mike Johnson “not to handle this the way Congress normally handles things.”
“There are actually four different committees that have jurisdiction. I don’t want a bunch of committees doing whatever they want.”
“We need to have a special commission that is made up of members of those committees and other members with expertise in the matter. We need to get this together very soon. And it needs to be completely open. Which means the American people need to see everything we’re doing, every person we’re talking to, every piece of information we have, so they understand what the hell is going on.”