A Friday night with the protestors on Ted Cruz's front lawn

By Brooke Kushwaha
May 8, 2024

You know what they say: Never waste a Friday night on a first date. But there I was, on the wide, pothole-free streets of River Oaks at dusk looking for a man in glasses and a hat that reads, "Make Israel Palestine Again."

The man, who identified himself as Eyad Monni, has been attending early morning pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside of Sen. Ted Cruz's house for the past 13 consecutive weeks, and has attended additional protests on Friday nights for the past four. Tonight was particularly special, he said, because it's the first gathering since Monni got arrested last week for disorderly conduct. He went to court earlier that morning, where he said his charges were immediately dismissed, "before the attorney even showed up," Monni said.

The protests, organized by just under two dozen people without any official activist group banner, are a small, localized pressure point within the larger wave of pro-Palestinian activism inundating city streets and college campuses across the country. Monni said the group has intentionally kept operations tightly knit to not attract outsiders who might commandeer the event or try and harm the senator. Last week marked the first time any individuals had been arrested or even approached by the police after a protestor allegedly cursed at a neighbor, according to protestors and police. "That guy was ticketed, rightfully," said Monni, who added that he did not participate in the incident but was arrested anyway.

Snip

“These Cultural Marxists are wasting their breath," Cruz said. "I will never back down, and I will never apologize for my unwavering support of Israel's right and obligation to its citizens to utterly eradicate Hamas."

Snip

More

He’s appealing to Democrats to save his seat? Hmmm wonder how bad his polling numbers really are.