Republican Senator Josh Hawley (Mo.) was briefly removed from the stage at an event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday after anti-Israel protesters from leftist group Code Pink disrupted proceedings.

Hawley was speaking with Axios reporter Stef Kight at the outlet’s News Shapers forum when activists began yelling and heckling at the GOP Senator.

Kight politely asked spectators to let journalists “do our job” and said she understood how passionately people feel about certain issues.

Once police finished escorting protestors away from the event, Hawley flashed a smile as he returned to the stage to applause from the crowd. Kight and Hawley spoke about artificial intelligence, Medicaid policy, supporting the working class, and other pressing topics at the Axios event Wednesday morning.

“Hahahah – pro-Hamas CRAZIES tried to disrupt another event this morning. What a bunch of nutcases. I’m proud as ever to stand for America and our ally Israel,” Hawley posted on X afterwards.

In a statement, Code Pink celebrated its activists for holding up signs accusing Hawley of perpetrating starvation in Gaza by helping fund Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. Anti-Israel activists regularly disrupt events on Capitol Hill.

“Palestinians are starving for one reason: Israel’s siege, fully backed by the U.S. and its allies,” said Code Pink activist Olivia DiNucci.

“We won’t let lawmakers ignore this genocide while pretending to care about American families.”

Code Pink did not say why it chose to disrupt Hawley specifically. The left-wing activist group is primarily bankrolled by millionaire Neville Singham, who lives in China and funds Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

In the distant past, Code Pink would criticize Chinese human rights abuses, but in recent years it has peddled CCP propaganda on its atrocities against Uyghur Muslims and Hong Kongers.

Hawley, it should be noted, is a frequent critic of the CCP and routinely targets Chinese ties to U.S. institutions.