On Tuesday night, a mob of anti-Israel rioters descended on the debate hall in Philadelphia where former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) met for the first time in the campaign.

According to the New York Post, the crowd clashed repeatedly with nearly 100 police officers in riot gear as the candidates debated inside the National Constitution Center. Leaders of the mob claim that at least three of them were arrested.

Police used their bikes to create makeshift shields with which to push the rioters back, while rioters wore keffiyehs, devil masks, and other forms of face coverings. At least one rioter ignited a red flare. Although other protesters were present, expressing opposition to other matters such as abortion and President Trump himself, only the anti-Israel crowd was left by the end of the night, with the outbreak of violence scaring all of the other protesters away.

During the debate, Harris shifted her position dramatically by declaring that she has always supported Israel’s right to defend itself ever since the deadly terrorist attacks by the Islamic group Hamas on October 7th, 2023, which killed over 1,400 Israelis.

President Trump attacked her for her past anti-Israel stances, saying she “hates Israel,” while also criticizing her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D-Minn.) for his anti-Israel statements.

The issue of Israel has proven to be a divisive one in the presidential campaign for the last year. Following the attacks on October 7th, anti-Semitic protests and riots have sprouted up all over the country, particularly on college campuses, with young Americans and Muslim Americans overwhelmingly demanding the destruction of Israel, using the anti-Semitic chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

During the presidential primaries, significant percentages of Democratic voters chose to vote “uncommitted” over Joe Biden out of protest of his administration’s handling of the war in Israel, especially in states with high Muslim populations such as Michigan and Minnesota. Following Biden’s withdrawal, Harris has shifted her tone significantly, away from rhetoric in favor of Palestine and trying to take a more neutral stance, while still condemning the riots. At the 2024 Democratic National Convention, hundreds of rioters clashed with police over the course of multiple days, in a manner reminiscent of the race riots that occurred outside the 1968 DNC.