Rep. Brad Schneider says protesters outside his house in middle of night were "there to intimidate"
WASHINGTON (CBS) -- U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois) spoke out Monday after a loud protest outside of his Highland Park home.
Two Saturdays ago, pro-Palestinian demonstrators used bullhorns to chant from the street in the middle of the night. They also used drums and noisemakers, and left neighbors feeling alarmed and threatened.
"I think the folks who came to my house, as you said, in the middle of the night—faces covered with masks, banging drums, blowing on horns, with megaphones; chanting antisemitic, anti-Israel chants along the way; literally waking up and terrorizing my neighbors—they weren't there to pursue peace or advocate for a better path," Schneider told CNN's Jake Tapper. "They were there to intimidate to scare—and in their words, they were there to punish me."
Schneider said such conduct is "not what we need."
"My office is always open. I talk to anyone and everyone. I talk to people on all sides of this issue," he said. "That's what we should be doing in having that constructive conversation."
Protesters held the overnight rally outside Schneider's home in Highland Park starting around 2:45 a.m. Saturday, June 29. The noisy protest prompted several complaints from neighbors, who wondered why more wasn't done in response at such an hour.
Highland Park city officials said police arrived on the scene within minutes of receiving a series of complaints, and saw around 40 protesters gathered on the sidewalk, holding up banners and shouting "pro-Palestinian and antisemitic chants" using loudspeakers and drums. While police said there were antisemitic chants, CBS News Chicago could not confirm that was the case in the available video footage of the protest. In videos posted to social media, protestors can be heard saying "Free, Free Palestine" and "Resistance is justified when there is a genocide."
Schneider's office said a red liquid that appeared to be some kind of animal blood was poured on the sidewalk during the protest.
Police said officers used de-escalation tactics and were able to disperse the crowd. But protesters vowed, "We will be back" while planting Palestinian flags in the grass.
No arrests were made and no citations were issued after the protest outside Schneider's home.
An Instagram post showing the demonstration included a caption reading, "Chicago organizers wake up Brad Schneider at 2:30 a.m. to demand he re-funds UNRWA and ends the U.S.-backed genocide." The post was found on the Instagram page "Direct Actions for Palestine," which tagged the Pro-Palestinian groups American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Chicago and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) Chicago.
Schneider was the target of protests again on Thursday, July 4th, when posters featuring photos of the more than 100 people still being held hostage by Hamas-led militants in Gaza were torn down outside his office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
The congressman shared photos of the vandalism on X, showing many of the posters of hostages on the floor, crumpled or shredded.
The posters featured the pictures of more than 100 people, including eight Americans, who have been held hostage by Hamas since the militant group's Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.
U.S. Capitol Police confirmed they were investigating the vandalism, but declined to provide further information.
Speaking to Tapper, Schneider said the ripping down of the posters was not an attack on him, but an attack on "all my constituents, on the Capitol—saying, 'We're not going to let you put that display to show solidarity.'"
Schneider said Israel is the most important U.S. ally in its region, and said Israel has every right to defend its nation and citizens, secure its borders, and rescue its hostages after the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 last year. He also emphasized that he and other members of Congress are working to get aid into Gaza, and "ensure a peaceful future for all the people in the region."
"But these protesters coming in—they're coming in to intimidate. They are chanting antisemitic slurs. They are burning the American flag on the 4th of July—a truly un-American demonstration," he said, "not calling for peace or calling for a better path, but calling or destruction, and I think, really, not doing what they say is their cause any good."