Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside presidential debate

PHILADELPHIA — A tense standoff with police and pro-Palestinian protesters outside Tuesday's presidential debate ended peacefully after hundreds gathered to draw attention to the human suffering taking place in Gaza as part of the Israel-Hamas war.

Officers in riot gear and on bicycles far outnumbered the few dozen protesters that ultimately remained from several hundred who marched along Market Street from City Hall. A phalanx of officers stared down protesters, some pushing and shoving as protesters yelled, calling them “fascists” and even tossing water bottles at them.

Demonstrating outside Philadelphia City Hall, the group had plans to march as close to the Constitution Center as they could get, given the tight security perimeter there. Those protesting appeared opposed to both presidential frontrunners' support for Israel and general stance on the war, which started after about 1,200 Israelis died in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that prompted Israeli military action in Gaza that killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

During the debate, Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris called for a cease-fire and hostage release. She first called for a cease-fire in Gaza in March citing an "immense scale of suffering."

Holding Palestinian flags and shouting pro-Palestinian chants, the group led by the Party for Socialism and Liberation wanted people to know “Harris and Donald Trump have more in common with each other than they have with us,” said Claudia Dela, a New York-based organizer.

“Democracy is very much a sham,” Dela said. "(Harris and Trump) are part of the same political class, and we need more voices of working people to demand what we deserve.”

As police took up positions on 4th Street, protesters began urging one another to “go home now,” and many left. One masked person lit a red flare, and police began to move the crowd further onto 4th Street. That person was arrested, but the police wagons that were brought in were empty as the crowd moved down Ranstead, a small side street, and back onto 5th Street.

Rabiul Chowdhury, a demonstrator in Philadelphia on Thursday, said Abandon Harris was officially launching Tuesday ? an effort to force the Harris campaign to broker a cease-fire in Gaza or lose crucial votes in battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

The Harris campaign “doesn’t care about us,” said Chowdhury. He added that the group is not advocating for Trump and is instead urging voters to support third party candidates like Jill Stein and Cornel West in the presidential race.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside presidential debate