The consulate General of India in Seattle said it had to “deal with a law and order situation” when certain individuals entered its premises “unauthorised” and engaged in aggressive and threatening behaviour with the consulate staff over the alleged denial of visa to one of them.

“Today, the consulate was forced to deal with a law and order situation arising from the unauthorised entry by certain individuals into the consulate premises after office hours,” the consulate said in a post on X Friday.

It added that despite repeated requests, “These individuals refused to leave the consulate premises and engaged in aggressive and threatening behaviour with the consulate staff.” The consulate said it was “compelled to call in relevant local authorities to deal with the situation. Further action is being initiated against the trespassers”.

One of the individuals the consulate referred to is former Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant, who said in a post on X that she was in the consulate with her husband and “refusing to leave”. Sawant said that the consulate granted her husband an emergency visa to visit her mother in India who is “very sick. But rejected mine, literally saying my name is on a ‘reject list".