The White House and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on Wednesday evening condemned the protest in Washington, D.C., against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, which turned violent and included expressions of support for Hamas.

Based on photos and video from the protest, which included thousands of protesters, demonstrators assaulted a police officer while he was making an arrest; spray painted “Hamas is comin” on a statue outside D.C.’s Union Station, along with other pro-Hamas graffiti; carried Hamas flags; called for a “final solution”; burned an effigy of Netanyahu and carried one showing him with horns covered in blood; and took down and burned an American flag outside Union Station before replacing it with a Palestinian flag.

“Identifying with evil terrorist organizations like Hamas, burning the American flag, or forcibly removing the American flag and replacing it with another, is disgraceful. Antisemitism and violence are never acceptable. Period,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement. “Every American has the right to peaceful protest. But shamefully, not everyone demonstrated peacefulness today.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) described the demonstrators as “terrorists” in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He and other Republicans visited Union Station to replace the U.S. flags later in the evening.

“Pro-terror, anti-Israel agitators are vandalizing federal property, removing American flags, and replacing them with Palestinian flags steps away from the United States Capitol,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), a member of Senate Republican leadership, said on X. “This is inexcusable, and I expect them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) called the demonstration “deeply disturbing.”

“The glorification of Hamas — a terrorist organization backed by the Iranian regime and holding over a hundred hostages in Gaza — is unacceptable and has no place in our country,” Rosen said.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) quipped, “I thought the Democrat National Convention was last month.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who was highly critical of Netanyahu’s speech, called the images from the demonstration “disturbing.”

“I’ll always support Americans exercising their First Amendment rights but pro-Hamas cheers and messages of hate and antisemitism have no place in our country. Period,” Murphy said.

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) suggested direct ties between Hamas and the demonstrators.

“We’ve long known Hamas has sought to seed and instigate these protests since they barbarically attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Now the protesters are saying the quiet part out loud,” Schneider told Jewish Insider. “This is dangerous hate speech that puts lives in harm’s way. It has no place in America let alone outside our nation’s capital.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said that the demonstration “goes beyond peaceful protests and free speech. It will only further incite violence. Our nation’s leaders on both sides of the aisle must fully denounce this ugly, pro-Hamas extremism and make clear that antisemitism has no place in America.”

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) told JI, “While I respect the right we all have to protest, defacing public property and creating an ode to Hamas, a terrorist group that slaughtered thousands of civilians and continues to hold hostages, including eight Americans, is deeply concerning.”

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who is running for Michigan’s Senate seat, called it “disgraceful.”

“If your idea of protest is aligning yourself with a brutal terrorist group, you have lost your way,” Slotkin said. “You are terrorizing Jews and you are doing great harm to the people you’re claiming to support.”

Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN) echoed a line from Netanyahu’s speech, calling the demonstrators “Iran’s useful idiots.”

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) said he “never imagined seeing the flag of a terror group holding eight Americans hostage for 292 days waved in the streets of our nation’s [capital].”

Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) claimed in multiple posts that the protesters represent the voters that Vice President Kamala Harris is seeking to attract.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) connected the events to anti-Israel protests on campus.

“The Jew hate and anti-American garbage coming out of college campuses this spring didn’t end with the last day of school,” Auchincloss said. “College presidents, you’re on notice: Enforce your codes of conduct from day one of the fall semester.”