Kshama Sawant Says Cops Should Have Arrested Rep. Adam Smith For War Crimes, Not The Anti-War Protesters

Screenshot for Sawant's livestream press conference Monday night

Rep. Adam Smith and his socialist challenger Kshama Sawant had their first major public clash in the 2026 congressional race Monday night. Police officers arrested three anti-war activists from Sawant’s organization Workers Strike Back (WSB) outside of Smith’s town hall in Renton. But the two sides tell very different stories about the circumstances of their arrests. Smith accused the protesters of unacceptable violence. The activists say they were peacefully handing out flyers — exposing Smith’s own unacceptable, violent record of bankrolling Israel’s genocide in Gaza. If anyone deserved to be arrested that night, Sawant argued it should have been Smith for war crimes. 

Just before 7pm on Monday, Sawant tweeted that cops arrested three WSB members “just for chanting” outside of Renton Technical College where Smith was hosting a town hall. The cops took them to the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) jail and they were each released on $500 bail later that night.

“Their only crime is standing against genocide and standing with the Palestinian people,” Sawant said at a press conference outside SCORE. “If that is a crime, then I am a criminal too.” 

The Burner did not find video leading up to the arrests of the three anti-war activists, but footage posted by Sawant showed the cops detaining the activists in a relatively calm scene. TVW footage, also incomplete, did not show any disruption or violence inside the town hall.

At the press conference, Sawant pointed out that the police, under capitalism, will arrest “peaceful activists who are carrying out their First Amendment Right on public space,” but the cops won’t arrest the “real criminals, who have funded genocide.”

“It’s both Democrats like Adam Smith and Republicans who have bankrolled this slaughter and bloodshed in Gaza,” Sawant said. “And every activist who is arrested has a badge of honor on their chest because they are standing up for the right side of history.”

Smith did not paint such a heroic image of the WSB protesters, but he kept his comments vague.

“Today’s town hall was intentionally disrupted to attempt to silence a democratic conversation between a Representative and his constituents,” Smith said in a statement posted on Twitter. “This behavior is unacceptable.”

Smith, writing in passive voice that failed to assign specific blame, said “one of my staff members was physically assaulted during the chaos – an act that crosses every line of civil discourse.”

Smith also seemingly disputed Sawant’s claim that the protesters kept their action "peaceful," a bar often set arbitrarily by the powerful to justify punishing dissent.

Smith wrote, “Peaceful protest is protected in our democracy. Violence and coordinated efforts to shut down public dialogue are not.”

Without video showing disruption, the alleged assault, or the lead up to the arrests, the internet filled in the blanks, mostly in line with their political leanings. Online lefties called Smith a traitor, accused him of lying, and noted the hundreds of thousands of dollars the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has spent supporting his career. The right-wingers called on cops to arrest anyone associated with Sawant and accused her of orchestrating a publicity stunt to drum up media attention around her campaign. 

This is a developing story and The Burner will update as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: WSB called for a protest near Smith’s house Tuesday, but have since postponed the action.