Demonstrators demanding a cease-fire in Gaza shut down bridges in Boston and San Francisco | KRQE News 13

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Demonstrators seeking a cease-fire in Gaza blocked bridges on both sides of the U.S. on Thursday, including a major span into San Francisco during a global trade summit involving President Joseph Biden and other world leaders.

At least 50 protesters were arrested on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and 15 vehicles were towed after demonstrators blocked all lanes on the upper deck, with some drivers tossing their keys into the bay, said California Highway Patrol division chief Ezery Beauchamp.

Traffic was snarled for hours after more than 200 demonstrators demanded that Biden, in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ conference, call for an immediate cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

In Boston, about 100 protesters stopped traffic on the bridge connecting the city to Cambridge for more than two hours during the morning rush. They chanted “cease-fire now!” and held a banner with the words “Jews say: ceasefire now” and they called on one of Massachusetts’ two senators, Democrat Elizabeth Warren, to do more to halt the hostilities.

On the West Coast, Aisha Nizar, of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said in a statement that President Biden was “hosting cocktail parties in San Francisco” while thousands of people were being killed in Gaza. Protesters unfurled huge banners and some of them lay on the ground with white sheets draped over their bodies as part of a “die-in.”

Beauchamp, of the highway patrol, called the Bay Area protest highly coordinated and said he expected that more participants would be arrested. He said the patrol supports free speech rights but not a traffic shutdown that could prevent emergency vehicles from crossing.

“This is the wrong way to do it,” he said. “This is 100% wrong, it’s unacceptable and it’s illegal.”

Demonstrations over the war are becoming more disruptive across the U.S. Protesters calling for a cease-fire clashed with police Wednesday outside Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., where Democratic representatives and candidates were inside for a reception.

The protests came as Israeli forces dropped leaflets warning Palestinians to flee parts of southern Gaza, residents said Thursday, signaling a possible expansion of the Israeli offensive following Hamas-led attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.

  • davel [he/him]
    hexbear
    89
    7 months ago

    This was some motherfuckin’ praxis. So proud of them.

    • a major span into San Francisco during a global trade summit involving President Joseph Biden and other world leaders
    • some drivers tossing their keys into the bay
    • Traffic was snarled for hours
    • Adkml [he/him]
      hexbear
      16
      7 months ago

      While Biden has a press conference to call Xi a dictator and libs cheer.

  • sharedburdens [she/her, comrade/them]
    hexbear
    78
    7 months ago

    He said the patrol supports free speech rights but not a traffic shutdown that could prevent emergency vehicles from crossing.

    Hypothetical emergency vehicles boohoo

    I swear these fuckers just mean their own cop cars

    • star_wraith [he/him]
      hexbear
      56
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      It’s a long ass bridge between two independent large cities (SF and Oakland). I can’t see a situation where an emergency vehicle would need to cross.

      • huf [he/him]
        hexbear
        14
        7 months ago

        and if it does, i'm p sure the protesters would let it through. up until the moment it turns out the "ambulance" is full of cops who open fire on them. after that, they wouldnt let the emergency vehicles through.

    • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
      hexbear
      11
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      "You can protest whatever and wherever you want as long as you get a permit, stay inside the police marked protest zone, and don't do anything violent or inconvinient"

  • SpiderFarmer [he/him]
    hexbear
    69
    7 months ago

    Always people getting angry over how people protest and not what they're protesting against. Genocide is kinda bad, but blocking traffic is unforgivable.

  • HumanBehaviorByBjork [any, undecided]
    hexbear
    58
    7 months ago

    dumbest waste of air you've ever met in your ife voice: "i agree with their message but they should express it without making problems for everyone else"

  • Trudge [Comrade]@lemmygrad.ml
    hexbear
    57
    7 months ago

    Canadian truckers are allowed to block a bridge for a month in protest against vaccines but Californians can't even get a day for Gaza?

  • Owl [he/him]
    hexbear
    49
    7 months ago

    Blockades are a great tactic, glad to see them used instead of standing in the corner of a park with signs for a few hours.

  • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
    hexbear
    43
    7 months ago

    "This is the wrong way to do it,” he said. “This is 100% wrong, it’s unacceptable and it’s illegal.”

    A fun game of "are they describing Israeli terror, or peaceful protest?"

  • mar_k [he/him]
    hexbear
    27
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    Xi should call Biden a dictator.

  • emizeko [they/them]
    hexbear
    12
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    bourgeois media is now running stories with vague claims about "delayed organ couriers" that don't have enough details for independent verification

  • @DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml
    hexbear
    10
    7 months ago

    Funny how every single type of protest is the "wrong type" according to the authorities, why, if I didn't know better, I'd think they don't want people to exercise their freezepeach at all!

  • charly4994 [she/her, comrade/them]
    hexbear
    7
    7 months ago

    Literally braver than the troops. Who knows what some of those angry drivers might've done to them with how many people are just run over these days, even with a blockade.