Brontë Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle/AP
One of three protests in the Bay Area involved people who blocked Interstate 880, causing a long backup on the highway.
CNN
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More than 150 people were arrested or taken into custody across the US Monday as pro-Palestinian protesters blocked roads and one of the country’s most famous bridges.
In places from San Francisco and Seattle to Chicago and the East Coast cities of Miami and New York, demonstrators disrupted traffic – including during rush hour – and blocked travelers from getting to major airports to protest the US supporting Israel in the war in Gaza.
On Monday, President Joe Biden, while addressing Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend, said he remains focused on Israel’s security, reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, freeing the hostages taken by Hamas and preventing the conflict from spreading.
Dozens of protesters blocked rush hour traffic on the iconic Golden Gate Bridge on Monday morning.
Protesters held signs, including one that read, “Stop the world for Gaza.” Some protesters chained themselves to vehicles on the bridge, authorities said. The bridge didn’t fully reopen for several hours.
Demonstrators also blocked vehicle flow in two other places in the Bay Area, some attaching themselves to drums filled with concrete and rebar, which officials said slowed efforts to reopen roads.
“It was an orchestrated event that they put forth,” California Highway Patrol Chief Don Goodbrand said. “They blocked three separate locations on freeways. They prevented law enforcement, paramedics, ambulances from getting to their points of destination.”
More than 30 people were arrested, according to CHP.
In Oregon, 52 people were arrested after scores of law enforcement officers responded to a protest that blocked lanes of Interstate 5 near Eugene.
Oregon State Police said six vehicles were towed from the scene.
Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard/USA Today
Demonstrators prevent traffic from using the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Eugene, Oregon.
Roads to two major US airports also became the scene of protests. In Chicago and Seattle, people trying to catch their flights ended up getting out of vehicles and walking to their terminals.
According to CNN affiliate WLS, protesters stopped traffic from moving on a road to Terminal 1 at Chicago’s O’Hare airport during the morning rush.
“Enough is enough. The US government has given us no choice but to disrupt business as usual,” demonstrator Simone Tucker told WLS.
About 40 people were taken into custody, Chicago police said.
In Seattle, protesters appeared to block the road leading to the Seattle-Tacoma airport with several vehicles and demonstrators held a sign reading: “Our taxes are funding genocide.”
Carl Juste/Miami Herald/AP
Demonstrators in downtown Miami call for a ceasefire in…
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