‘Genocide Joe has got to go’: Pro-Palestine protestors gather during Biden’s visit to Tampa
While President Joe Biden took 15 minutes to talk on the protection of reproductive rights in Tampa on Tuesday, pro-Palestine protests chanted against the United States handling “on-going genocide” in Gaza, and its alliance to Israel in the conflict.
Related: President Joe Biden visits Tampa to talk abortion rights
“The lack of coverage in the media in Gaza compared to coverage on the reproductive justice movement is appalling,” a speaker said into a microphone.
Over 150 people gathered with Palestinian flags, signs and flyers to protest Biden’s presence on the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry campus.
Related: USF students to go on hunger strike for Palestine: ‘Putting our lives on the line’
Alina Atiq, member of the USF Divest Coalition, said Biden is “not wanted here,” while holding a small sign.
“Biden has facilitated and funded the genocide of over 40,000 Gazans and he is complicit in their genocide,” Atiq said. “We don’t want him as our president anymore.”
Related: USF student leaders narrowly pass divestment resolution
Members of the Students for a Democratic Society were also responsible for organizing the protest.
A protestor, wearing a Kippah on his head and a Keffiyeh around his neck, chanted “Genocide Joe has got to go” and “Joe, Joe shame on you, Palestinians are dead because of you,” while he led protestors to the end of the street.
An American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) legal observer was present during the protest to monitor police interaction with demonstrators in light of recent student arrests in other university campuses across the U.S.
Holding signs with flip flops “hitting” Biden and Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and hundreds of flags, protestors yelled “Biden, Biden can’t you see, you are on a killing spree.”
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