Pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupt California Assembly session

SACRAMENTO — A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted a session in the California Assembly chamber Wednesday evening.

It happened at around 7 p.m. Assembly members took a recess when this occurred and when lawmakers returned to the chamber, the protest continued.

Despite the session being disrupted, the session was able to continue until it was adjourned.

Video taken inside the capitol shows demonstrators on a second-floor balcony chanting "Free, free Palestine." B

Banners held over the balcony read "California #1 state sponsor of genocide" and "Rafah tent massacre," which points to the dozens of Palestinians, including displaced people living in tents, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in May.

On Tuesday, CBS News reported that at least nine people were killed by an overnight Israeli strike in Khan Younis after Palestinians were ordered by the Israeli army to flee the southern Gaza city.

In mid-June, the Israeli military said it experienced the deadliest attack on its forces in months when eight soldiers were killed in an explosion in southern Gaza.

The conflict in Gaza has been ongoing since October 2023.

Security guards at the California Capitol in Sacramento escorted the demonstrators out after the session had ended. No arrests were announced.