- Protesters mingled with guests before unfurling their “Stop the Genocide” banner
- Biden's support for Israel's bombing of Gaza has angered progressives
- The demonstrators mingled with the guests and then broke out into chants over loudspeakers
About 30 Gazan protesters broke into the hotel where President Joe Biden was staying in San Francisco on Thursday, then chanted: “Ceasefire now.”
Biden was at the luxury Fairmont Hotel, where he had earlier met the widow and daughter of Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in a Russian prison on Friday.
The protest group mingled with guests at the hotel before breaking into chants over a loudspeaker as Biden was about to leave the hotel.
“Biden, Biden, you can't hide.” “We charge you with genocide,” they chanted as guests in the hotel cafe looked on in amusement.
About 30 Gaza protesters entered the hotel where President Joe Biden was staying in San Francisco on Thursday, chanting: “Ceasefire now.”
The protest group mingled with guests at the hotel before breaking into chants over a loudspeaker as Biden was about to leave the hotel
Biden was at the Fairmont Hotel, where he had earlier met the widow and daughter of Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in a Russian prison on Friday
They unfurled a banner that read: “Stop funding genocide: End all US aid to Israel.”
At least one protester wore a Jewish kippah, or skullcap.
They followed the White House press pool through the hotel to make their case as Biden and his team prepared to leave.
Biden is on the final day of a three-day fundraiser through California.
The hotel was open to guests, who were able to enter the lobby and shops without being checked.
However, they did not get close to the hotel's tower wing, which was cordoned off by secret service agents.
He has largely avoided public outbursts over his unwavering support for Israel in its bombing of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where more than 28,000 people were killed.
But the issue is dividing his party, with the progressive wing increasingly vocal against Israel's offensive.
A small group of protesters gathered near a home in Beverly Hills where he attended a campaign reception on Tuesday evening. Some guests there donated up to $250,000 for the honor of meeting the president.
At least 23 Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombings of homes in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to the enclave's Hamas-controlled health ministry.
A recent poll found that half of U.S. adults concluded that Israel had “gone too far” in its war in Gaza.
The issue could prove particularly sensitive in contested states. Biden trailed Trump 45-41 in a new EPIC-MRA poll in Michigan, a state that Biden carried in 2020 and Trump won in 2016. The state has a large Arab-American population and large Muslim communities.