- Protesters mingled with guests before unfurling their ‘stop genocide’ banner
- Biden’s support of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has alienated progressives
About 30 Gaza protesters infiltrated the hotel where President Joe Biden was staying in San Francisco on Thursday, before chanting: ‘Ceasefire now.’
Biden was at the Fairmont hotel, where he earlier met the widow and daughter of Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in a Russian prison on Friday.
The protest group mingled with guests of the hotel, before breaking into chants with a loudspeaker as Biden was due to leave.
‘Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,’ they sang, as bemused guests around the hotel coffee shop looked on.
About 30 Gaza protesters entered the hotel where President Joe Biden was staying in San Francisco on Thursday, chanting: ‘Ceasefire now.’
The protest group mingled with guests of the hotel, before breaking into chants with a loudspeaker as Biden was due to leave
Biden was at the Fairmont hotel, where he earlier met the widow and daughter of Alexei Navalny , the opposition leader who died in a Russian prison on Friday
They unfurled a banner saying: ‘Stop funding Genocide: End all US aid to Israel.’
At least one protester was wearing a Jewish kippah or skullcap.
They followed the White House press pool through the hotel to make their point, as Biden and his team prepared to leave.
Biden is on the final day of a three-day fundraising swing through California.
The hotel was open to guests, who could enter the lobby and its shops without any checks.
However, the did not get close to the hotel’s tower wing, which has been sealed off by Secret Service agents.
He has largely avoided public outpourings of anger at his full-throated support for Israel as it bombards the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where more than 28,000 people have been killed.
But the issue is dividing his party, with the progressive wing increasingly vocal in its opposition to Israel’s offensive.
A small crowd of protesters gathered close to a Beverly Hills home where he attended a campaign reception on Tuesday evening. Some guests there donated as much as $250,000 for the honor of meeting the president.
At least 23 Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli bombardments of houses in central Gaza, according to the enclave’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.