Pro-Hamas protesters were at it again Sunday, trying to make the lives of regular people more difficult, this time by blocking northbound Interstate 5 for over three hours and causing traffic to back up for six miles.
Authorities told people to avoid the area and had to divert traffic onto the eastbound I-90. The demonstrators apparently thought that blocking a highway would cause the White House to change its policies regarding Israel:
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the freeway and along overpasses on Denny Way and Olive Way to communicate that “there can’t be any business as usual” as long as American tax dollars are helping fund Israel’s war in Gaza,” said Michael Grant with the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the groups that organized the protest. “We are having to escalate our demands to the heart of Seattle.”
Watch this footage from Seattle broadcaster Jason Rantz:
Three hours after they began, the crowd finally dissipated.
In this clip you can see an emergency vehicle that was unable to reach its destination in a timely manner, a clearly dangerous situation:
“Should drivers be able to push through crowds without fear of litigation if their life is threatened?” one Twitter user posted.
The protesters apologized for their actions beforehand, as if that would soothe the frayed nerves of drivers who were forced to sit in their vehicles for three hours:
Before authorities began rerouting traffic to keep drivers off northbound I-5, some of the protesters handed flyers to drivers that apologized for the inconvenience and said, “We would not have taken this action if it weren’t an emergency of life or death for thousands, if not millions, of people.”
They chanted, “Up, up with liberation. Down, down with occupation” as the sun began to set and hail started to fall. They’re against the Biden administration’s military aid to Israel as it conducts its war against Hamas, but they were silent on the over 1,200 Jews killed by the terror group in its surprise Oct. 7 assault:
Alice Green, a member of the local Green Party who attended the demonstration, said she was upset that “it was very quick for Biden to give money for bombs and military aid” while other needs like housing, student debt relief and health care “have not been addressed.”
As we’ve noted in other stories about similar protests, these mob actions are dangerous and causing more people to deplore the protesters — they’re not changing many minds. It’s one thing to peacefully demonstrate, which is everyone’s right as an American citizen, but it is another when they’re blocking highways, airports, train stations, and stores. That is not their right.
Not surprisingly, a local newspaper wrote, “Police did not appear to make any arrests.” Two reasons why: one, this is Seattle we’re talking about, and two, these are progressives, and as the George Floyd/BLM riots showed, they are allowed to do what they want.
