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       Ten people, most of them college students, were arrested Wednesday after interrupting a congressional hearing to demand that pro-Palestinian students be protected when they speak out on campus about the Israel-Gaza war.

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       Nine of the protesters were arrested on charges of illegally protesting inside a congressional office building, according to Brianna Burch, a Capitol Police spokeswoman. Specifically, they were arrested under a D.C. code that prohibits crowding, obstructing or incommoding, which is often cited in the arrest of protesters during peaceful planned acts of civil disobedience. Capitol Police arrested a 10th protester for allegedly assaulting a police officer, Burch said.

       The larger group of more than 20 protesters came from Howard University, George Washington University, George Mason University, Maryville College, New York University, American University and Gallaudet University to target a House Judiciary Committee hearing about free speech on college campuses, said Olivia DiNucci, a local anti-militarism advocate who helped the students organize the action. In a news release, the group said there has been “unprecedented repression” for students who condemn Israel’s attacks in Gaza.

       One-by-one, pro-Palestinian protesters continuously disrupt a House Judiciary Committee hearing about free speech on college campuses. pic.twitter.com/y5Pj1acEtI

       — CSPAN (@cspan) November 8, 2023

       At least 10,569 people in Gaza have been killed and 26,475 wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday. At least 1,400 people were killed in Israel in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and at least 5,400 people have been injured, according to Israeli officials. Hamas militants, they said, took about 240 hostages, four of whom have been released, two Americans and two Israelis.

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       During the congressional hearing, which included discussions about antisemitism, individual protesters stood up and chanted “cease-fire now!” “Free Gaza!” and “stop silencing Palestinian students!”

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       “The inaction by our universities is contributing to the dehumanization of Palestinians and creating an hostile campus climate that actively harms students,” Hafiza Khalique of New York University and a member of Dissenters, an antiwar advocacy group and one of the organizers of Wednesday’s action, said in the news release.

       Six people protesting the Israel-Gaza war also were arrested outside U.S. defense contractor Raytheon’s office in Arlington, Va., according to police and activists.

       Those protesters, ages 28 to 77 and from as far away as Wisconsin and as close as Baltimore, were arrested and charged with trespassing, said Ashley Savage, a spokeswoman for the Arlington County police.

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       The group allegedly refused to stop protesting on private property after the property manager asked them to leave, Savage said. Police warned the groups they would be arrested if they did not disperse, yet they remained on the property, Savage said.

       The activists, who were with antiwar group Code Pink, aimed to “to confront the war profiteer on its role in producing weapons that are causing extreme suffering and death to innocent children, women, and men around the world,” according to a news release.

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