An Illinois man, aged 24, was arrested on assault charges for attacking two police officers during protests in Washington, D.C. The protests were held against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July. The man, identified as Zachary Allen Kam from Chicago, was taken into custody in Illinois and was scheduled to appear in court on the same day of his arrest.
The incident took place during a demonstration on July 24 at Columbus Circle, near Washington's Union Station. U.S. Park Police officers were in the process of arresting an individual who had pulled down a flagpole when Kam intervened. He physically assaulted one officer, causing scrapes and bruises, and then targeted another officer, dragging him to the ground.
Kam fled into the crowd but was later apprehended by police near John Marshall Park, approximately four hours after the assault. According to a police affidavit, assaulting a federal officer during a protest is considered a federal crime and not protected under the right to free speech.
Protesters had initially obtained a permit to demonstrate in front of Union Station. However, the permit was revoked by the U.S. Park Police after they were unable to reach the protest organizers on the day of the event. The National Park Service incurred costs exceeding $11,000 for cleaning up and repairing damages at the protest site.
This arrest marks the third individual facing legal consequences for actions during the July protest. Zaid Mohammed Mahdawi, 26, from Richmond, Virginia, was arrested for spray-painting graffiti on a monument, while Isabella Giordano, 20, from Towson, Maryland, faced charges for defacing a fountain with the word “Gaza” during the same demonstration near Union Station.
