NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) faced numerous pro-Palestine disruptions throughout his hour-long book tour stop at Temple Emanu-El.
The protests occurred throughout the first 25 minutes of the event, with the first outburst happening within 5 minutes. Booker remained calm following each protest, highlighting the importance of free speech in the United States.
“I rise to call you a fraud. Cory Booker, you committed genocide in Gaza. Look at you, you blow children to pieces,” one of the male protesters screamed. “You did that. Gaza is your pride. Genocide is your legacy.”
Booker’s book Stand dissects the current state of the country, outlining virtues for American to uphold to restore the country and calling on Americans to “stand up.”
There were five separate protesters screaming “free Palestine,” accusing Booker of genocide.
Booker said outbursts like these didn’t occur at his previous book tour stops, including Newark, Chicago, Atlanta, Philly, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. The event at Temple Emanu-El, the seventh tour stop, is notably the only event Booker organized at a synagogue.
Moderator Gayle King attempted to pivot the conversation while also condemning the protesters, saying, “I actually don’t think it’s okay.” The audience clapped after her remark.
King said she always gets “rattled” by these types of outbursts, and asked if Booker felt the same.
“There are so many countries that I get to visit as … one of the people on the Foreign Relations Committee, where an action like that could get you thrown in jail, killed,” Booker said. “We have a free society.”
“So the first thing I say when somebody stands up is, in the back of my head, ‘First of all, I love you, and I may not agree on this, and you may be trying to disrupt it,’” he continued.
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The audience grew more irritated after each disruption with attendees screaming back at the protesters to leave and some calling for their arrests.
One attendee screamed, “We’re with you senator,” and was met with a loud round of applause by the audience.
Immediately after Booker said “it’s going to get worse” when talking about the Iran war, another protester screamed about Gaza.
Following the fifth and final disturbance, Rabbi Joshua M. Davidson took to the podium he introduced Booker and King from to condemn the protesters, calling on others who came with similar intentions to not act on them.
Davidson then apologized to Booker, King, and the audience for the disturbances.
“I want to say to those of you who are here, who may have the inclination to do what others have done,” Davidson said. “This is the United States, and you do have the right to protest, but this is a synagogue, and you don’t have the right.”
The outbursts were similar to many that former Vice President Kamala Harris faced in the early stops of her 107 Days book tour. Protesters accused Harris of genocide during her book tour.
However, Booker and Harris responded to the situations differently. While Booker used the disruptions to highlight free speech, Harris famously yelled back at protesters that she wasn’t the president.
Gayle used the protests to illustrate the fractures in the country, pressing Booker on his opinions over how divided the country is.
“I think we are coming to a real match of crisis,” Booker said.
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Throughout the conversation, King often highlighted Booker’s wife, Alexis Lewis Booker, who is Jewish.
Booker, who has been an outspoken ally of the Jewish community throughout the years, married his wife Alexis in November in an interfaith wedding. Alexis was raised Jewish and the couple frequently post about celebrating Jewish holidays together.
Booker will travel to California this weekend for the last two stops of his Stand book tour.
