A Palestinian-American activist is pressing charges against U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell of Mississippi for allegedly assaulting her on Capitol Hill.
Ezell, who is currently running for reelection, was shown in a video posted Tuesday with Sumer Mobarak, a member of a feminist political advocacy group based in California called Code Pink.
One of the activists can be heard asking Ezell about the Israel-Hamas war and whether he thinks Israel should accept a ceasefire proposal or if he wants “this genocide to continue?”
Another person off-camera asks: “You want the killing of my people, my Palestinian people?”
“Oh, why don’t you shut up?” Ezell says in response. “Knock it off!” He then appears to reach out with his hand and knock the cellphone filming him to the ground.
The Palestinian-American, identified as Mobarak, has filed an assault complaint against Ezell, according to Code Pink. U.S. Capitol Police told the Associated Press that they are looking into the incident.
“These China-backed protesters want to harass and intimidate Members of Congress into ending our support for Israel and our opposition to Hamas terrorists,” EzeIl said in a statement. “I will not be harassed or intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party, Hamas, or their supporters, and I will continue standing with our Israeli allies against terrorism.”
Code Pink says on its site that “China is not our enemy.” According to a 2023 New York Times investigation, the group—which describes itself as a “feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism, support peace and human rights initiatives”—once criticized China’s human rights record but has more recently supported Beijing’s internment of mostly Muslim Uyghurs.
Ezell was Jackson County sheriff before he was elected to the U.S. House seat in south Mississippi in 2022. He is seeking reelection this year as the Republican nominee and faces Craig Elliot Raybon, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, in November.
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