Five protesters disrupted remarks by U.S. Rep. Randy Fine during a congressional panel in Orlando. All took issue with his controversial remarks about the war in Gaza.
The first stood up and yelled “Shame on you,” before party officials took him by both arms and removed her from the room.
Another shouted “You are murdering and starving children,” as party members walked her out.
It’s unclear how protesters made it into the Florida Freedom Forum, a ticketed gathering organized by the Republican Party of Florida.
Fine, an Atlantic Coast Republican who won his seat in a Special Election in April, brushed off the chants from stage.
“When my friend Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican National Committee, when they asked him about my election, he said ‘Washington may not be ready, the strongest right hook in the Legislature is coming to Washington,’” Fine said. “People like that are about to find out why.”
Fine shared the stage with Reps. Aaron Bean and Daniel Webster, from Fernandina Beach and Clermont respectively.
The trio focused their comments largely on the tax package passed by the Republican Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.
Bean joked amid the protest about how the event was supported by the Florida Democratic Party.
Protesters themselves, though, seemed focused on controversial remarks by Fine that have drawn bipartisan outrage. Fine has called reports of children starving in Gaza disinformation, but also posted “starve away” on social media.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, last week condemned those remarks.
“I can only imagine how Florida’s 6th District feels now that their Representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children,” Greene posted.
Meanwhile, the American Jewish Committee, a pro-Israel group led by former Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, distanced itself from Fine’s remarks.
“Implying that starvation is a legitimate tactic is unacceptable,” a statement reads.
Another protester later disrupted remarks by Attorney General James Uthmeier. “We may have room for him at Alligator Alcatraz,” Uthmeier said.
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