One does not often see a sitting U.S. senator hosting a gubernatorial candidates forum, but U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) is not your average senator.

Held at Rutgers in New Brunswick on Sunday, Kim led the way in a discussion billed as the “Build and Defend Forum,” focusing on some of the national debates of the last six weeks under President Donald Trump. Attending were four of six Democratic candidates for governor: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th), Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller.

A prominent topic was immigration, for instance, where Sherrill was among those who promised to maintain so-called “sanctuary” state policies in New Jersey and to fight against expansion of detention facilities.

While the candidates did not engage with one another directly and mostly agreed in their positions, the proceedings were punctuated by demonstrators who called on the candidates and the Democratic Party as a whole to support Palestinians and to condemn Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Kim quieted the crowd and met with some of the protesters after the event.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correctly identify why protestors were at the event. They were there to seek support for Palestine.