Footage of the incident shows a Republican congressman apparently knocking a phone out of the hand of an anti-war protester at the U.S. Capitol.

Rep. Mike Ezell of Mississippi walked through a U.S. Capitol on Tuesday as protesters from the feminist anti-war organization Code Pink accosted him about the war between Israel and Hamas, according to footage posted on X.

The video shows two members of Code Pink, Medea Benjamin and Sumer Mobarak, walking with Mr. Ezell. The video, filmed by Ms. Mobarak, shows Ms. Benjamin questioning Mr. Ezell about the war. The video then cuts to Ms. Benjamin and Ms. Mobarak walking behind the Congressman.

“You want my people killed?” asked Ms. Mobarak, who is of Palestinian-American descent.

Mr. Ezell turns around and says, “Shut up, stop it.” He then appears to knock the phone out of Ms. Mobarak’s hand.

Mrs Benjamin said The Independent the incident was a shock.

“This has never happened before,” she said. “And we’ve been doing this for six months now.”

“The fact that Sumer is a Palestinian woman who wears a head covering gives us food for thought,” Ms. Benjamin continued. “Was that also a racial issue?”

When The Independent When asked for his reaction to the incident, Mr Ezell said he would continue to support Israel in its war against Hamas.

“These Chinese-backed protesters are trying to bully and intimidate members of Congress into ending our support for Israel and our opposition to Hamas terrorists,” Mr. Ezell said. “I will not be bullied or intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party, Hamas, or their supporters, and will continue to stand with our Israeli allies against terrorism.”

The couple later confronted Mr. Ezell in a congressional hearing.

“You are disgusting, a racist,” Ms Mobarak told him. Video footage showed that he did not react.

Ms. Benjamin said she hoped the Kentucky congressman would apologize to Ms. Mobarak. “That would be the least he could do,” she said.

The US Capitol Police said The Independent They are “looking into the matter”. In the meantime, Ms Benjamin said The Independent that the Capitol Police took Ms. Mobarak’s report “very seriously.”

Ms Benjamin and Ms Mobarak are among numerous anti-war activists protesting against the war between Israel and Hamas. The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israel’s sustained assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 people, most of them women and children. The United Nations also says restrictions on humanitarian aid have caused a “man-made famine”, with half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents facing catastrophic starvation.

The attacks on Gaza came after October 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.