Protesters With Whistles, Cowbells Repeatedly Turning Up at Ted Cruz’s Home

Pro-Palestinian protestors have repeatedly demonstrated outside the house of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, blowing whistles, ringing cowbells and chanting “no more money for Israel’s crimes” over the Republican lawmaker’s support for Israel.

In an X, formerly Twitter, post late on Saturday, Cruz wrote that the protestors had shown up outside his house in Houston at 7 a.m. CT (8 a.m. ET) that morning and were “waking up the neighbors.” He previously said that they were “harassing my family.”

In footage he published, the approximately 16 demonstrators—all of whom were wearing masks or scarves over their faces—chanted: “While you’re filming, bombs are dropping. While you’re filming, kids are starving. Ted, Ted, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?”

“These antisemites REALLY hate Israel,” Cruz claimed. “And they added a new claim: that police officers are the KKK,” in reference to a chant that the Ku Klux Klan and Houston Police Department were “all the same.”

Since around 1,500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants staged a surprise attack on Israel on October 7—killing an estimated 1,200 people, including many civilians, and taking around 250 hostages—Israeli forces have conducted an intensive campaign of airstrikes and subsequent ground offensive on the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of eliminating Hamas, which controls the territory.

While many Western nations have supported the military operation, citing Israel’s right to self-defense, it has also attracted fierce international criticism for the number of civilians killed in the violence and the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.

At least 31,045 Palestinians have been killed to date, The Associated Press reported, citing the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, while over 1.8 million people are thought to have been displaced with limited humanitarian resources.

In the latest clip, one protestor was draped with a Palestinian flag while others held up placards referencing the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as Cruz’s support for Israel.

The Texas senator has previously posted about prior visits, alongside footage of the demonstrations, however it is unclear on how many occasions they have turned up outside his house. While he said Saturday’s visit was “the 8th week in a row” they had been there, on March 2—a week prior—he said it was “the 3rd week in a row.”

In a post on February 17, he said the protestors had turned up twice in the same week.

Newsweek approached Cruz’s office via email for clarification on Sunday.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has prompted President Joe Biden to this week announce America would establish a temporary pier on the territory’s Mediterranean coastline to enable more aid to flow into the territory.

Since Israel began its military campaign in Gaza, there have been pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world, including in many U.S. cities and on college campuses. In some cases, these have spilled over into expressions of support for Hamas’ actions and overt antisemitic threats.

Cruz has consistently supported Israel. He has backed bills aimed at providing military aid to Israel, but voted against a package in February—which ultimately passed with bipartisan support—that provided aid to both Israel and Ukraine.