Over 300 pro-Palestine protesters calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza were arrested after blocking several major bridges and tunnels during morning rush hour in Manhattan on Monday, Jan. 8.
John Chell, the Chief of Patrol for the New York Police Department, said on Twitter that 325 arrests were made. The protesters blocked roads near the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges, as well as the Holland Tunnel. Per ABC News 7, 120 people alone were arrested at the tunnel before it re-opened around 10:30 a.m. ET.
According to Chell, most of the protesters will face misdemeanor charges with a desk appearance ticket. The 325 arrests make this one of the largest round-ups of pro-Palestine demonstrators, who’ve been calling for an end to the war in Gaza with similar actions for months. In comparison, just 26 demonstrators were arrested in December after blocking traffic near John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.
The bridge-and-tunnel actions were staged on the three-month anniversary of the start of Israel’s war in Gaza, which has left an estimated 23,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel’s airstrikes and ground invasion were preceded by the militant group Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 hostages were taken.
The protest was organized by members of a handful of groups, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Writers Against the War on Gaza. A statement shared by the Palestinian Youth Movement said the protest meant to amplify five demands: An immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the 17-year blockade of Gaza, the release of all Palestinian prisoners being held without charge or trial, an end to Israel’s military occupation, and the end to U.S. military funding to Israel.
The statement also noted that the last time protesters blocked off major tunnels and bridges in New York City was in 1995 when AIDS activists with ACT UP cordoned off two bridges and two tunnels during rush hour. About 185 people were arrested.
Of Monday’s protests, NYC Mayor Eric Adams said, “The goal is to peacefully protest without doing major disruption to the city, some people are not just driving to and from, across our bridges to go to their place of employment, some of them are dealing with some real emergency type issues. I have been extremely clear, it gives us all pain to see innocent lives being lost right now, we need to do whatever is possible to end anything that is going to take the lives of innocent people, but Hamas must be destroyed, they are a terrorist organization.”
