U.S. Senate Candidate Steve Garvey Denounces Protestors On Campuses Across California, Nation

Senate candidates and former baseball star Steve Garvey announced on Thursday he was denouncing anti-Israeli protestors on college campuses both in and out of state, going so far as to call them “pro-Hamas” and “supporting terrorism.”

For the last few weeks, many colleges across the nation have been gripped by students protesting the Israel-Gaza war, demanding that their universities and the U.S. divest from supporting Israel. While some have been demonstrations, others have gone so far as to pitch up entire encampments, saying that they won’t be moved until their demands are met.

At USC in Los Angeles, 93 were arrested on Wednesday for trespassing and refusing to leave when police had asked them to. Classes were also heavily disrupted, with the graduation ceremony also being canceled as a result. Campuses at UC Berkeley and Cal Poly Humboldt saw a growth of demonstrators because of the campuses being reluctant to bring in force. The same went for UCLA, where protestors built their first encampment on Thursday.

Feelings amongst lawmakers have ranged from supporting the protestors to being vehemently opposed to them. Many, like Governor Gavin Newsom, have tried to take a ‘middle of the road’ stance, with Newsom saying on Thursday that “I’m very mindful of what’s going on at the campuses and want to maintain people’s rights to protest. At the same time we need to do so peacefully, without any hate.”

However, there was notable silence from both U.S. Senate candidates: Garvey and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA). But on Thursday, Garvey broke that silence, coming out strongly against the protestors.

“This is terrorism disguised as free speech,” said Garvey in his speech in Los Angeles. “The students are making a statement that they probably don’t really understand what it’s about. What they’re saying is: they’re pro-Hamas. They’re pro-terrorists. They’re supporting terrorism.”

“These organizations aren’t by kids in dormitories who are making a statement that they probably don’t really understand what it’s about. This is organized support of terrorism. I believe demonstrations that allow people to build encampments that obstruct the pathway to classes, and the opportunity to learn, is terrorism.”

Garvey, Schiff stances

While Garvey came out with a strong stance, Schiff was noticeably silent in the aftermath. Schiff has shown support for Israel in the war earlier this year in the debates, but he has yet to take a stance on the protestors, or comment on the protests nearby his Congressional district in the L.A area.

“For him or against him, Garvey made his stance on the protestors crystal clear,” explained political advisor Sheila Cruz to the Globe on Thursday. “He’s not winning over any younger people or those of Palestinian descent with that, but many Jews will probably like what he said. If Garvey clarifies and says he backs the right to protest but not when it supports terrorism or something like that, he can definitely win over a lot of people, who are tired of these protests already. Different generations remember the Vietnam and Iraq protests, or the Occupy protests, and just do not want another big one.”

“The ball is also now in Schiff’s court. If he stays silent, then no one knows where he stands. He can make some smart moves here like reconfirm his support of Israel but also say that the right to protest is an American institution and play the middle of the road. But he needs to do something soon. Some people think what Garvey said was too extreme, but at least he said where he stood, which is more what Schiff has done. Also, if Schiff does say what he thinks soon, will he lay into Garvey at all for his remarks, saying that the protestors were terrorists? Schiff has been very pro-Israel in the past, and Garvey’s stance make it much more difficult for Schiff to say anything where it doesn’t make a lot of people mad at him.”

More on the protests and lawmakers responses is to come out soon.