We reach new heights of fascism every day in the U.S., and last week, on the second day of the Republican National Convention (RNC), I experienced it firsthand. Rep. Derrick Van Orden abused his power and privilege as a white member of Congress to target me, a Muslim Palestinian woman, and had me falsely arrested on charges of battery after shoving past me in line for an event.

👉 Submit a Complaint to the Congressional Ethics Committee to Hold Van Orden Accountable for His Lies!

After being detained by Texas police in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, questioned by the U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security, and spending 15 hours in police custody at two different jails, I was finally released at two in the morning. Thankfully I’m fine and the charges were dropped after detectives looked at body cam footage and found no evidence of Van Orden’s claims. One thing really stuck with me from my arrest: The Secret Service, Homeland Security, and Milwaukee Police all told me the same thing — it was only because Van Orden is a member of Congress that I was treated so terribly. This was a clear move by Van Orden to abuse his power in an attempt to intimidate and silence a Palestinian woman and CODEPINK’s message of peace.

👉 Hold Van Orden Accountable: Submit a Complaint to the Congressional Ethics Committee!

We showed up to the RNC to advocate for Gaza, reproductive justice, and working class people who’ve had their money stolen from them to bomb and starve innocent people across the globe — and Van Orden’s little tantrum was not enough to spoil our plans. We participated in the March on the RNC, with our demands communicated in a crystal clear  speech by CODEPINK’s national co-director Danaka Katovich:

“We will show up for reproductive rights. We will show up for the working class. We will show up for immigrant rights. We will show up for Gaza. And we will show up for each other, always because the stakes are too high not to. We have a long and incredibly hard fight ahead of us – if we don’t have each other’s backs, we will all fail. So CODEPINK has your backs. And we hope to spend the next few days letting the war criminals and bought-off politicians know that they aren’t welcome here in Milwaukee.”

After the march, we protested outside a fundraiser for Tammy Baldwin, who has taken $469,988 from the pro-Israel lobby. The next day, just an hour after I was detained, CODEPINK hung a banner off a bridge near the Fiserv Forum where the RNC was taking place that read, “WAR CRIMINALS NOT WELCOME HERE.” The rest of the week we continued to bring our feminist, anti-war messaging everywhere we could — from a European Union event challenging China, to a march around the security perimeter on the last day of the convention. One thing was for certain: We were not going to allow a convention like this to go on undisturbed. 

It’s safe to say intimidation tactics by Van Orden and others on the side of genocide and imperialism will never deter us from advocating for Palestine. In fact, CODEPINKers immediately sprung into action advocating for my release, and it was thanks to you all calling the District Attorney’s office that I was freed! I consider that a win — a win that was only possible because of the community we’ve built together. What we all do matters, and this win is indicative of the wins that we’ll continue to have until liberation!! 

👉 Please Submit a Complaint to the Congressional Ethics Committee to Hold Van Orden Accountable to His Abuse of Power!

👉 Read our statement for a full account of the incident with Van Orden.

👉 Keep taking action:

• Unmask politicians bought by the Zionist lobby machine!
• Educate, activate, and inspire love for Gaza this summer! 
• Join us at the Democratic National Convention!
• Boycott! MAERSK and join the arms embargo campaign!
• Sign up to organize and engage locally!
• Support our work! 

PS: Order our CODEPINK floral t-shirts in pink and black to bring the movement for peace wherever you go!