Senator Tom Cotton expressed outrage at the wave of anti-Israel protests that have wreaked havoc across the country and said it was time for Americans to take matters into their own hands.
Cotton (R-Ark.) appeared on Fox News on Monday and denounced the hundreds of demonstrators who blocked traffic in San Francisco during the blockade of the Golden Gate Bridge to protest the war between Israel and Hamas.
“If something like this happened in Arkansas on a bridge there, let’s just say I think there would be a lot of very wet criminals thrown overboard,” Cotton said.
“If they stuck their hands to the car or the sidewalk, well, it would probably be really painful to have their skin ripped off,” he continued. “I would encourage most people, wherever they find themselves stuck behind criminals like this, who are trying to block traffic, to take matters into their own hands.”
He then doubled down on Tuesday, sharing an old clip of a man dragging protesters off the street and suggesting it could be a model for the United States.
“I sympathize with law enforcement who are having to deal with this, but I think it’s time for the private citizens who are the ones who are inconvenienced here – when confronted by these protesters – to address the issues on their own,” Cotton said.
“Most of these people can be easily moved off the streets,” he added, referring to the protesters. “We absolutely cannot tolerate this kind of criminal activity.”
Cotton added that vigilantes who take “charge” are usually “always the most popular people on the scene.”
Since Hamas’ bloody surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and sparked a war, protests have erupted across the country.
Protesters harassed President Biden and disrupted Congress.
Just last week, dozens of protesters disrupted a Senate hearing attended by Cotton on the Pentagon’s budget request. Cotton used some of his time to challenge claims by some of these protesters that Israel is engaged in genocide in the Gaza Strip.
In 2020, when unrest caused by Black Lives Matter protesters swept the country, Cotton wrote a controversial op-ed in The New York Times, in which he suggested that the United States should deploy troops to stem the riots.
The newspaper later published an editor’s note criticizing the article and saying the editing process was not up to its standards.
“These rioters, if left unchecked, will not only destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens, but will also take the lives of innocents,” Cotton said at the time.
“One thing above all will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, arrest and ultimately deter lawbreakers. »
New York Post
