California Democratic Party chair vows to hold accountable any delegates who aided ceasefire protest

The chairman of the California Democratic Party has vowed to hold any delegate accountable if they actively aided the pro-Palestinian protest for a ceasefire at his state's convention this weekend in Sacramento. 

"Any delegates who actively participated in or aided the furtherance of those activities or events in violation of our party’s code of conduct will be held accountable," Chairman Rusty Hicks told party members who were gathered for the convention, Politico reported Sunday. 

Demonstrators demanding a ceasefire in Gaza on Saturday overwhelmed the convention center at which the party convention was being held – forcing the scheduled caucuses to be canceled that evening.

Earlier in the day, protesters also cut a U.S. Senate candidate forum short. Videos from Saturday show demonstrators filling the convention center lobby, as well as the auditorium, chanting, "Ceasefire now!"

California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who is running for the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, had his speech shut down by protesters chanting for a ceasefire, videos show.

Hicks did not detail potential punishments for any delegates who may have been involved in the demonstration. The California Democratic Party's code of conduct says that violators can be censured, removed from their status as a delegate or prohibited from attending party events.

Two security guards suffered "minor injuries," and Jewish attendees "were openly intimidated and harassed," according to Hicks.

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus condemned the incident and said that Jewish delegates were already nervous about attending the convention due to the spike in antisemitism after Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, including more than 30 U.S. citizens, and taking approximately 240 others captive. After the vocal demonstration, Jewish delegates felt "it is unsafe to participate at all" in the convention, per the caucus. 

"We fully support the right to protest loudly and vociferously. But storming through security and shutting down a democratic process - particularly with chants calling for the destruction of Israel and appearing to justify the Hamas attack - is completely unacceptable," the caucus said. 

It is unclear whether any party delegates actively aided the demonstrators, but at least one person who identified online as a delegate voiced support for the protest. 

"I’m a Jewish Democratic Party Delegate. You don’t speak for me," Jonah Gottlieb posted on X, formerly Twitter, in response to the caucus' statement.

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.