Gaza protesters heckle White House media dinner guests
STORY: Chanting slogans and holding banners that accused American news networks of biased war coverage, the protesters urged members of the press invited to the event to boycott it and heckled administration officials as they entered.
They also highlighted the issue of journalists being killed in Gaza.
According to the non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 97 media workers had been killed in the war as of April 26. The Israeli military told Reuters last year, it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip.
Biden avoided the large protests at the front of the hotel by arriving through a back entrance, where he was greeted by smaller groups of protesters calling for a ceasefire.
At the century-old event, often referred to as Washington's "nerd prom," hundreds of journalists, politicians and celebrities rub elbows in a massive hotel banquet hall. It often features friendly jabs from the president in a closing speech that takes aim at reporters and other guests in the audience. This year it will be hosted by Saturday Night Live's Colin Jost.
