House Democrats who denounced attacks on police during the January 6 Capitol riot are also condemning violence against police at anti-Israel protests on college campuses, but they draw a distinction between the two events.
Democrats who vehemently condemned the attacks on police during the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol are now speaking out against police being injured at the anti-Israel protests currently raging at universities across the country.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a member of the now-defunct House select committee on January 6, told Fox News Digital that she condemned all attacks on law enforcement but panned comparisons to the Capitol riot.
"I condemn attacks on police officers, full stop. At the Capitol and on campuses," Lofgren said. "It’s worth noting that what is happening on college campuses is not aimed at stopping the peaceful transfer of power or threatening our democratic system of government, so there is not a direct equivalency. Any attempt to sanitize the events on January 6th is a malicious one."
Similarly, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital, "I condemn all violence against police officers."
A source familiar with the thinking of the former Jan. 6 committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said he also condemns any form of violence.
The statements come after reports of police officers being injured during anti-Israel protests at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, the University of Utah, and Emerson College in Boston, as well as violent clashes between students and police at the University of California at Los Angeles.
A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published last year found that 114 Capitol Police officers were reported injured during the Capitol riot. One officer died on the scene of natural causes, and four more who were at the scene committed suicide in the seven months after the riot.
A spokesperson for Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., would not directly weigh in on whether Schiff condemns the recent attacks against police specifically, but pointed Fox News Digital to earlier statements speaking out against attacks on Jewish students.
Pelosi's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment, nor did the offices of House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., or Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., despite all three condemning attacks on police during the Jan. 6 riot.
In an October 2022 Jan. 6 committee hearing, Aguilar accused the pro-Trump protesters of "violently attacking the efforts of the brave men and women in law enforcement trying to resist the mob."
Raskin said in a statement on the one-year anniversary of Jan. 6, "The attempted coup and insurrection left 150 law enforcement officers injured, wounded, traumatized or dead. Anyone who denies or minimizes this unprecedented assault on law enforcement can never call himself or herself ‘pro-law enforcement.’ That’s just political fraud."
The distinction drawn by Democrats between the Capitol riot and the anti-Israel protests on college campuses is based on the perceived intent behind the violence.
The Democrats argue that the Capitol riot was an attempt to overturn the results of a democratic election and undermine American democracy, while the anti-Israel protests are driven by opposition to a specific policy or government.
Republicans, on the other hand, argue that any violence against police is unacceptable, regardless of the context. They also point to the fact that many of the anti-Israel protests have been accompanied by anti-Semitic rhetoric, which they believe creates a hostile and intimidating environment for Jewish students.
The debate over the nature and significance of the anti-Israel protests is likely to continue, as is the debate over the appropriate response from law enforcement and university officials.
