Protester grabbed by crowd members at Jill Biden event after calling for Gaza ceasefire

‘I was really disappointed, when we’re talking about celebrating women, and the importance of women in positions of power, that this topic, of the femicide that is happening in Gaza, wasn’t addressed,’ protester says

A protester was violently grabbed and pulled by the crowd at an event with First Lady Jill Biden event after the protester called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Dr Biden spoke in Las Vegas, Nevada and in Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday and it was at the Fox Theatre in Tuscon that multiple protesters were removed from the premises after interrupting the first lady’s speech.

The first lady focused on Republican efforts to curb abortion rights in her speech, which was interrupted at least four times during its 15 minutes, according to USA Today.

“Jill, when are you and the President going to call for a ceasefire in Gaza?” one protester asked before she was pulled down by the audience and subsequently dragged out by security.

The activist group known as the Answer Coalition shared a video of the incident:

More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, many as a result of Israel’s often indiscriminate bombing campaign, after the beginning of the Israeli response to the 7 October attack by Hamas last year, in which around 1,200 people were killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the goal of the war is to fully root out and destroy Hamas, a task many observers say is insurmountable.

“Donald Trump has spent a lifetime tearing us down and devaluing our existence. He mocks women’s bodies, disrespects our accomplishments, and brags about assault,” Dr Biden said. “Now he’s bragging about killing Roe v Wade.”

“Donald Trump is dangerous to women and to our families. We simply cannot let him win,” she added. “When our bodies are on the line, when our daughters’ futures are at stake, when our country and its freedom hang in the balance, we are immovable and unstoppable.”

Kaliana Venet was one of the protesters who interrupted Dr Biden’s speech. She told USA Today that she thinks Israel is guilty of genocide and that she won’t support President Joe Biden in the election in the autumn.

“I was really disappointed when we’re talking about celebrating women, and the importance of women in positions of power, that this topic, of the femicide that is happening in Gaza, wasn’t addressed,” she told the paper. “There are women in Gaza having C-sections without anaesthesia. There are children in the NICU who are dying because they don’t have power in the incubators.”

While the Biden administration still backs Israel, it has said that more care needs to be taken to prevent civilian harm, and it has started to airdrop aid into Gaza.

Mr Trump moved in lockstep with Mr Netanyahu during his presidency and he’s highly unlikely to push back on any Israeli war effort if elected.