DC Police Provided Escorts for Unpermitted Anti-Israel Protests, Records Show

FOIA documents reveal Metropolitan Police granted street closures and escorts to "Die in for Humanity" demonstrations lacking required permits, raising enforcement concerns.

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Jewish Onliner has learned that Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police appear to have provided police escorts and street closures for anti-Israel demonstrations led by the group “Die in for Humanity,” despite not having proper permits from he city. While FOIA requests revealed no permits were found for the Georgetown demonstrations on Mother’s Day and Memorial Day 2025, according to our source, it remains unclear how many of the other dozens of documented demonstrations also lacked proper permits. The full scope of unpermitted activities requires additional FOIA requests to determine.

Violation of DC Permit Laws

Washington DC maintains clear legal requirements for demonstrations that impact public safety and traffic flow. According to DC law, permits are required for demonstrations that block streets, involve 50 or more people, or require police resources. The ACLU of DC explains that the city calls protests “First Amendment Assemblies” requiring government approval when they obstruct traffic or pedestrian walkways.

The Metropolitan Police Department explicitly mandates that “residents and organizations planning a special event are required to obtain permits to hold special events in DC” when police escorts or street closures are needed. These regulations exist to ensure public safety, proper resource allocation, and equal treatment under the law.

While demonstrations on public sidewalks are “legally permissible without a permit so long as they don’t block the walkway and fewer than 100 people are expected,” according to guidance from the Washington Peace Center, the “Die in for Humanity” group has systematically violated these clear boundaries.

The group has conducted numerous street-blocking events, with police enacting closures of major thoroughfares like M Street, Wisconsin Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, and 12th Street during rush hour traffic.

FOIA Reveals Lapse in Permit Authorization

FOIA requests filed for Georgetown demonstrations on Mother’s Day and Memorial Day 2025 revealed no permits were found, according to a source that spoke with Jewish Onliner on condition of anonymity, who provided the documentation. The Memorial Day demonstration was particularly concerning as it occurred just four days after the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers on May 21, 2025, yet proceeded without proper authorization despite the sensitive timing and substantial police presence required.

According to the source who spoke with Jewish Onliner, the “Die-in for humanity” protestors received police escorts for demonstrations at sensitive locations including Embassy Row, the Israeli Embassy, George Washington University, and federal buildings downtown. On June 24, 2025, approximately 10 MPD officers are alleged to have blocked four separate streets—10th Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, 12th Street, and Constitution Avenue—during morning rush hour to accommodate the group’s march, causing significant traffic disruption.

The Protest Leaders

Many of the DC demonstrations in question have been led by Hazami Barmada, described by Canary Mission as someone who has “harassed a public official’s family, justified Hamas terrorism, equated Israel with Nazi Germany and spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.” In one documented instance on her Instagram profile, she was captured on video before a June 16, 2025 protest stating, “we are waiting for our police escort to block off the street.”

Her co-organizer Atefeh Rokhvand, an elementary school teacher, is characterized by Canary Mission as having “called for Israel’s destruction, promoted incitement and spread hatred of Zionists.” Both activists were ordered to pay $182,000 in February 2025 after a DC court found they abused the legal system by falsely accusing a rabbi of stalking, with the judge finding their claims contradicted by video evidence.

Rokhvand’s “Teachers Against Genocide” organization led children “ranging from toddlers to teens” to congressional offices in January 2024, advocating against Israel funding. This CODEPINK-endorsed initiative raises serious questions about professional ethics for an elementary school teacher and the appropriateness of using minors as political instruments.

Theatrical Tactics Amplified by Foreign Networks

The group’s protests employ “street theatre” tactics designed for maximum social media virality, including activists dressing as Israeli soldiers “beating” others posing as Palestinian civilians, throwing fake blood on streets, and staging “die-ins” specifically choreographed to create shareable content for amplification by terror-tied networks in Iran and Turkey.

The group’s activities have been promoted by state-run Turkish broadcasters TRT World and Anadolu Agency, as well as Press TV, the Iranian state-run U.S.-sanctioned outlet. Jewish Onliner has previously reported on how these Turkish outlets systematically push anti-American and anti-Western narratives while maintaining ties to individuals connected to U.S.-designated terror organizations, reaching massive audiences worldwide.

Video of the group’s demonstration with TRT World Logo. Credit: Queen of Palestine on Instagram

List of Protests & Demonstrations

Below is a non-exhaustive list of street closures and police escorts for “Die-in for humanity” and other anti-Israel protests, some of which did not have proper permits:

• 09/16/25 - Embassy Row

• 09/10/25 - British Embassy, VP residence

• 09/07/25 - Dupont Circle

• 08/28/25 - Near Reuters 14th & H Street

• 08/09/25 - Israeli Embassy - Secret Service & MPD shut down street for Palestinian Youth Movement demonstration

• 07/24/25 - Israeli Embassy - Secret Service & MPD shut down streets for protest without permit

• 07/16/25 - Embassy Row - 4 police cars

• 07/15/25 - George Washington University

• 06/24/25 - Downtown DC

• 06/16/25 - Israel Embassy - streets closed from Mass Ave & S St to Israeli Embassy

• 05/29/25 - Embassy Row

• 05/25/25 - Georgetown - Memorial Day

• 05/22/25 - Embassy Row

• 05/14/25 - National Mall area

• 05/11/25 - Georgetown - Mother’s Day

• 05/07/25 - DC Capital Hill

• 04/12/25 - Israeli Embassy approx. date

• 04/04/25 - Embassy Row

• 03/26/25 - Embassy Row

• 03/24/25 - George Washington University

• 03/19/25 - George Washington University

• 03/01/25 - Israel Embassy

• 02/27/25 - 2nd Israel Embassy encampment

• 02/25/25 - Israel Embassy

• 02/15/25 - GWU approx. date

• 02/07/25 - Somewhere in DC

• 02/05/25 - GWU approx. date

• 01/10/25 - DC; DOJ

• 11/29/24 - Georgetown

• 10/31/24 - Georgetown 2 hour march

• 10/29/24 - Israel Embassy