Over 300 Arrested at NYC Bridge and Tunnel Motion

Greater than 300 pro-Palestine protesters calling for a everlasting ceasefire in Gaza have been arrested after blocking a number of main bridges and tunnels throughout morning rush hour in Manhattan on Monday, Jan. 8.

John Chell, the chief of patrol for the New York Police Division, stated on Twitter that 325 arrests have been made. The protesters blocked roads close to the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges, in addition to the Holland Tunnel. Per ABC Information 7, 120 folks alone have been arrested on the tunnel earlier than it reopened round 10:30 a.m.

In line with Chell, a lot of the protesters will face misdemeanor fees with a desk-appearance ticket. The 325 arrests make this one of many largest round-ups of pro-Palestine demonstrators, who’ve been calling for an finish to the conflict in Gaza with related actions for months. Compared, simply 26 demonstrators have been arrested in December after blocking site visitors close to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York Metropolis. 

The bridge-and-tunnel actions have been staged on the three-month anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s conflict in Gaza, which has left an estimated 23,000 Palestinians lifeless, based on the Gaza Well being Ministry. Israel’s airstrikes and floor invasion have been preceded by the militant group Hamas’ assault on Oct. 7, through which 1,200 folks have been killed and 240 hostages have been taken.

The protest was organized by members of a handful of teams, together with the Palestinian Youth Motion, the Palestine Proper to Return Coalition, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Writers Towards the Struggle on Gaza. A press release shared by the Palestinian Youth Motion stated the protest meant to amplify 5 calls for: a right away and everlasting ceasefire in Gaza, an finish to the 17-year blockade of Gaza, the discharge of all Palestinian prisoners being held with out cost or trial, an finish to Israel’s army occupation, and the top to U.S. army funding to Israel. 

The assertion additionally famous that the final time protesters blocked off main tunnels and bridges in New York Metropolis was in 1995, when AIDS activists with ACT UP cordoned off two bridges and two tunnels throughout rush hour. About 185 folks have been arrested.

Of Monday’s protests, New York Mayor Eric Adams stated, “The aim is to peacefully protest with out doing main disruption to the town. Some persons are not simply driving to and from, throughout our bridges to go to their place of employment. A few of them are coping with some actual emergency kind points. I’ve been extraordinarily clear: It provides us all ache to see harmless lives being misplaced proper now. We have to do no matter is feasible to finish something that’s going to take the lives of harmless folks, however Hamas should be destroyed, they’re a terrorist group.”