Protesters attended the Congressional debate at Palo Alto City Hall to express their feelings on the Israel-Hamas war, causing it to end early before candidates’ closing statements on Wednesday night.
The protest started about an hour and a half into the debate and lasted approximately 20 minutes unabated before the moderators of the debate tried to keep asking questions. This was interrupted by more heckling before the debate ended early.
After the debate, Adam Dawes, CEO of Embarcadero Media, which sponsored the event, said that the protestors disrupted the democratic process.
“Things broke down when the audience wanted to make demonstrations, and we had difficulty keeping order so that the candidates could speak their piece,” Dawes said.
The Palo Alto Police Department was present throughout the entire debate, though never got involved. They refused to make an official comment but implied that if they interfered it would violate the First Amendment rights of free speech and the freedom to protest.
The meeting was meant to allow community members to meet Congressional candidates vying to replace Anna Eshoo as the representative of the 16th District. Nine of the 11 candidates attended, including Joby Bernstein, Peter Dixon, Julie Lythcott-Haims, Sam Liccardo, Evan Low, Ahmed Mostafa, Peter Ohtaki, Joe Simitian and Greg Tanaka.
“It [the in-person debate] also allows the candidates to get greater exposure to the public and what the public is passionate about,” Dawes said. “So we feel it helps the dialogue and the democratic process to do these things in person.”
Protester and Stanford graduate student Nourhan Hesham said the debate was a good place to express her views on the Middle East conflict and her support for candidate Ahmed Mostafa.
“I’m a big supporter of Ahmed Mostafa and his run for Congress,” Hesham said. “And then I’m also obviously very passionate about what’s happening in Palestine. I think it’s an issue directly related here to this district and our tax dollars and where our money’s going. It’s a concern to me as an American, as a citizen, and also just as a person with a conscience.”
A video of the event is available here.
