Derrick Van Orden says Code Pink activists attacked him near RNC; police arrest woman

Wisconsin State Representative Derrick Van Orden accused an anti-war protester of assault following an incident in downtown Milwaukee on Tuesday that sparked a police investigation during the Republican National Convention.

The incident, which is being investigated as an assault, occurred shortly after 11 a.m. local time, according to Milwaukee police.

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

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

Officers arrested a 24-year-old woman who “struck” the victim (Van Orden). The victim “suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene,” Milwaukee police told the Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.

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

Group claims Van Order “intentionally bumped into a woman”

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.”

Code Pink, in a statement after the arrest, identified the woman involved in the incident as the group’s Palestinian campaign organizer, Nour Jaghama. The group said Jaghama, who they described as “visibly Palestinian,” was “intentionally jostled” by Van Orden “while attempting to pass 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: There is no place for political violence

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 verbally abusing a group of high school-aged Senate members during a nighttime tour of the U.S. Capitol.

In his statement following the incident, Van Orden repeatedly mentioned political violence, referring to Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump (OPF).

“There is no place for political violence in this country and I have repeatedly called for people who choose that path to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote. “Nothing will change until these people are held accountable.”

Since the start of the RNC, there have been at least five more arrests

At least six people have been arrested in Milwaukee since Sunday after security measures were tightened following the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

Three arrests were made near the convention center, while two more arrests occurred Sunday night ahead of the RNC. The altercation between Van Orden and Jaghama occurred less than a mile from the Fiserv Forum, where the RNC is being held.

A man was also shot and killed by five Ohio police officers on Tuesday about a mile from the Republican National Convention security perimeter, according to three local law enforcement officials and residents.

Thirteen Columbus police officers were conducting a briefing when they observed an altercation between two people, one of whom was holding a knife in each hand, according to preliminary information late Tuesday. When the man refused to comply with officers’ commands to drop the knife, officers opened fire, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said.

Contributor: Alison Dirr, The Journal Sentinel, Melissa Cruz, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Derrick Van Orden says he was attacked by protester near RNC