Cruz probes National Park Service response to anti-Israel protest: 'Insufficient resources deployed'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to the National Park Service (NPS) and criticized its handling of the anti-Israel protest at Union Station in Washington, D.C., on July 24 when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking to a joint session of Congress.

Cruz said in the letter sent to NPS on Friday that the agency only sent 29 officers to the large-scale protest that left graffiti on the statues outside of the train station. Protesters set the American flag on fire.

"The insufficient resources deployed by NPS, despite advance notice of the massive protest and the propensity of pro-Hamas demonstrations to turn violent, was negligent," Cruz wrote. "Even with every USPP officer in the D.C. area deployed, the many other demands on that force left far too few USPP officers available for a major protest that could turn violent, and the Park Police union is not aware of any effort to get additional officers."

Cruz is seeking more information from NPS about the agency's security preparation including background on any coordination with other agencies leading up to Netanyahu's appearance on Capitol Hill. He also requested the intelligence that NPS possessed ahead of protest and body camera footage from U.S. Park Police officers who were on the scene.