A dozen people were arrested on Tuesday night during a Sacramento City Council debate about a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg made multiple warnings from the dais and called two recesses during the session after outbursts from the audience. Pro-Palestine protesters refused to clear the chamber during the second recess—which lasted two hours—at which point Sacramento Police Department officers entered and arrested those who refused to disperse, according to KCRA-TV.
The council eventually approved the resolution 6-1 just before midnight when the session resumed.
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“This resolution is not about the Middle East so much [as] this resolution is about Sacramento,” Mayor Steinberg said ahead of the vote, according to The Sacramento Bee. “We are not at war with each other here in Sacramento.” He added that the contested resolution had not “created division in our city” but rather “exposed the divisions that already exist.” “And we have an obligation as leaders, no matter our walk of life, to try to make it better.”
More than 70 cities around the U.S. have passed resolutions about the Gaza conflict, with most demanding a ceasefire, according to Reuters.
