Pro-Palestinian Protestors Detained After Shutting Down Golden Gate Bridge

Three pro-Palestinian protests occurred in California on Monday, April 15, with one of them shutting down the Golden Gate Bridge.

Protestors are now being placed into custody.

According to ABC, the first protest occurred in Oakland. Protestors brought barrels filled with concrete, each weighing 280 pounds, onto the highway and chained themselves to them, causing a massive backup. There was also a sign that read, “A-15 Economic blockade for a free Palestine.” To detain the protestors, police had to cut through the barrels.

The second protest occurred on the Golden Gate Bridge, where protestors blocked all lanes, holding up a sign that read "Stop the world for Gaza." Another sign read, "End the siege on Gaza now."

The bridge has backed up for miles. As of 10:30 a.m. local time, law enforcement began detaining protestors. It is unclear at this time how many protestors have been taken into custody.

A third Pro-Palestinian protest occurred on I-880 in West Oakland, blocking the southbound lanes.

According to ABC, the protests in California are a part of A15, "a worldwide economic blockade in solidarity with Palestine and calling for an arms embargo and an end to U.S. taxpayer funding for Israel."

They are occurring on Monday, as it is the tax deadline for most Americans.

Another protest was reported in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Other reports have come in, stating that Pro-Palestine activists in Lyon, France, dumped red dye into a fountain to protest the deaths of children in Gaza. They are also calling on the government to stop sending weapons to Israel.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron told BFMTV news channel, "We will do everything to avoid a conflagration - that is to say an escalation. We need to be by Israel’s side to ensure its protection to the maximum, but also to call for a limit to avoid an escalation."

A protest in support of Palestine also closed roads leading to O'Hare Airport, Chicago, on Monday, April 15, 2024. Many travelers were seen exiting their vehicles and walking through traffic with their luggage to catch their flights.

The group Chicago Dissenters released a statement in an Instagram post. "On this Tax Day, when millions are paying taxes which fund the ongoing U.S. and Israeli bombardment of Gaza, protestors seek to take dramatic action," the group stated. "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."

This is not the first time protestors have shut down a major bridge in California. In November 2023, 78 protestors gathered on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for hours to demand a cease-fire in Gaza.

However, they avoided criminal proceedings and were ordered to do five hours of community service and pay restitution to avoid criminal proceedings, according to new station KRON4.

“This is a victory not only for those exercising their right to protest a genocide being fueled by their tax dollars, but for the growing global movement demanding freedom for the Palestinian people,” Aisha Nizar, one of the protestors, said in a news release at the time. “We emerge from this case even stronger and more united in our commitment to one another and to the people of Palestine.”