Demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza shut down San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge for around five hours Monday, as protests were also held in other cities in the U.S.
Demonstrators on the famous bridge held a sign that read “stop the world for Gaza” in capital letters. They used vehicles and chained themselves together to block travel lanes on the bridge, the California Highway Patrol said, adding that around 20 people were arrested.
NBC Bay Area reported that the bridge was closed for around five hours and that the traffic there was blocked beginning at around 7:30 a.m. The bridge reopened at around 12:15 p.m., the highway patrol said.
It’s not the first time pro-Palestinian protesters had blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge to draw attention to the war and their cause. A group blocked traffic on the bridge in February, calling for a cease-fire and demanding the U.S. stop supplying weapons to Israel.
On Interstate 880 in Oakland, protesters chained themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with cement, according to the highway patrol.
“They are actively working to remove these individuals and lanes will be reopened,” the highway patrol said in a statement. “These individuals will be arrested.”
In Chicago, around 40 people were arrested at O’Hare International Airport after a group of protesters obstructed traffic, police said.
“Stop sending bombs,” read the stop sign-like badges on the chests of protesters who blocked the expressway leading to O’Hare by connecting themselves to one another with pipes over their arms.
The group Chicago Dissenters said the protest date was picked to coincide with the April 15 tax filing deadline.
“O’Hare International Airport is one of the largest in the country, and there will be NO business as usual while Palestinians suffer at the hands of American funded bombing by Israel,” the group wrote on social media.
New York City police said they were making arrests after protesters blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.
In Seattle, an expressway leading to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was also blocked, airport authorities there said.
The Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel's subsequent war against the group in Gaza have inflamed passions in the U.S. and in other parts of the world.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including thousands of civilians, according to health officials there. More than 1,200 people in Israel were killed in the Hamas attacks, and hostages were also taken.
