Derrick Van Orden accuses Code Pink protester of assault during RNC

Wisconsin state Rep. Derrick Van Orden on Tuesday accused an anti-war protester of assault in an incident in downtown Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention, sparking a police investigation.

Code Pink, the protest group involved in the incident, denied that an attack had taken place, saying instead that Van Orden had “attempted to push past the activist.”

The altercation occurred shortly after 11 a.m. near the 400 block of East Wisconsin Avenue, according to Milwaukee police, who are investigating the incident as an assault.

Van Orden, a Republican from Prairie du Chien, said in a statement on X that he was “attacked” by a member of Code Pink in what appeared to be “an incident of political violence” while waiting in line for an event. He referred to the group, which protests the war in Gaza, as a “pro-Hamas group.”

The US Conceal Carry Association was holding an event on the topic of “defending and protecting” at the Pfister Hotel. A “Republican Women Lunch” was planned for 12:30 p.m. at the hotel.

Milwaukee police told the Journal Sentinel that a 24-year-old woman “struck the victim” and was taken into custody. “The victim,” police said, referring to Van Orden, “suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene.”

A spokeswoman for Van Orden did not respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel, including about Van Orden’s reported injuries.

It was unclear on Tuesday afternoon whether charges had been filed against the woman. Milwaukee police only said that the charges were “under review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.”

In a statement following the arrest, Code Pink identified the woman involved in the incident as the group’s Palestinian campaign organizer, Nour Jaghama.

The group said Jaghama, whom they described as “visibly Palestinian,” was “intentionally jostled” by Van Orden “as he attempted to push past her.”

“He tried to cut me off in line, so I got in front of him because I was first,” Jaghama said in a video the group posted to X.

Other Code Pink activists in the video said they were standing in line for a “Republican women’s brunch” when “someone … came up to them and shoved them,” one activist said in the video, referring to Jaghama. “It ended up being Derrick Van Orden, a congressman from Wisconsin, who, as soon as he met her, said, ‘You’re attacking a member of Congress.'”

Van Orden, who is running for re-election in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, has been involved in controversies before. In 2021, he allegedly threatened a teenage librarian over an exhibit of LGBT books. And he was criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for berating a group of high school-aged Senate pages during a nighttime tour of the U.S. Capitol.

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