Marjorie Taylor Greene Wants Pro-Palestinian Protesters Thrown Into 'Gulag'

Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is demanding that activists who mounted a pro-Palestinian protest at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday be sent to the "gulag" for taking part in an "insurrection."

Around 60 people calling for a ceasefire to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict were arrested for illegally protesting inside the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) confirmed in a statement emailed to Newsweek. The activists entered the building as tourists and underwent a normal security screening before the protest began.

"We were aware of a group's potential plan to take a tour of the U.S. Capitol Building and then start a protest," USCP said. "It is against the law to demonstrate inside the Congressional Buildings, so we brought in additional officers to be prepared for the moment the group would break the law."

Greene, who has repeatedly argued that January 6 Capitol rioters were not taking part in an insurrection, lashed out at the protesters as "insurrectionists" while singling out controversial Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour in a post to X, formerly Twitter.

The congresswoman suggested that the pro-Palestinian protesters should be sent to the same Washington, D.C. detention facility as January 6 defendants—a facility that she has previously spoken out against over alleged harsh treatment of detainees.

"Insurrection happening now in the Capital!!" Greene wrote. "Is that Linda Sarsour leading the Pro-Hamas Anti-Israel insurrectionists? Very serious ties to terrorists & Progressive Democrats if it's her. Arrest them all and throw them in the DC gulag in solitary confinement just like J6'ers!"

Other posts and images shared on X suggested that Sarsour, who has been accused of antisemitism, did take part in the demonstration. Right-wing social media personality Rogan O'Handley, also known as DC Draino, made nearly identical demands within minutes of Greene's post.

"Linda Sarsour and her band of anti-semites are now insurrecting the Capitol Will the DOJ lock them all up and throw them in the DC Gulag like J6ers?" wrote O'Handley. "Or do we not have equal justice in this country?"

"Pro-Hamas insurrectionists are storming the US Capitol Rotunda," Republican Representative Mary Miller of Illinois wrote in response to Greene's post. "We were told for 3 years that this is a serious federal offense that must be prosecuted by DOJ. Will the FBI be rounding them up at their homes? Solitary confinement? Will Biden DOJ prosecute?"

Some responded to Greene's post by mocking the notion that the protesters were involved in an insurrection, while calling out the congresswoman for hypocrisy regarding January 6.

Notably, the protest on Tuesday took place after participants underwent security screenings and were allowed into the building before allegedly breaking the law. Whereas January 6 rioters, who were attempting to overturn former President Donald Trump's 2020 presidential election loss, violently stormed the Capitol and illegally broke through barricades before entering the building.

"No flag poles, bear spray or mace—no one is beating the Capitol police officers with their own shields," wrote left-wing commentator Joanne Carducci, also known as @JoJoFromJerz. "This isn't a peaceful protest but Jan 6th was? Get the f*** out of here."

"This is a parody account lmao?" @adelu1219 asked Greene.

Last week, Greene suggested in an X post that "Democrats and their propagandists in the media" should be put "in jail" for attempting to "take out [former] President Trump" by investigating his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia.

Two weeks earlier, the Georgia congresswoman shared an article on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by Russian state propaganda outlet Strategic Culture Foundation, while warning that "anyone who votes to fund Ukraine is funding the most corrupt money scheme of any foreign war in our country's history."