CBS News reports the story:
Pro-Palestinian protesters block westbound Bay Bridge for hours; dozens arrested (Nov. 16)
Pro-Palestinian protesters demanding a cease-fire in Gaza blocked all westbound lanes of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for hours during the Thursday morning commute. Eighty people were arrested and over a dozen vehicles used to block the lanes were towed.
The California Highway Patrol said the protesters blocked the westbound lanes on the bridge's eastern span shortly before 8 a.m….. By 11 a.m., traffic was moving on the two right lanes.
According to the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), the action while Joe Biden was in San Francisco was to highlight the need for a ceasefire.
The group unfurled a banner reading, "Biden Harris: Ceasefire Now" across the lanes while others held a banner reading "No to US military aid to Israel.” Still other protesters held a "die-in" on the roadway, covering their bodies in white sheets and placards that read "11,000 dead."
One of the protest organizers, a Jewish activist from Oakland, explained the demonstration's motive:
"What happened today on the Bay Bridge is a demand for a cease-fire and an interruption of business as usual because, as far as I'm concerned, as long as we see genocide happening, we need to stop it." he asserted passionately.
"This disruption is a demand for leaders to pay attention. We know they know what's happening. We know they're ignoring it. We know they're not respecting international law."
The California Highway Patrol says at least 15 cars were removed from the bridge.
Authorities noted that many of the abandoned cars involved in the protest that were being towed had no keys to be driven off the span because protesters had thrown ignition keys over the side of the bridge.
A California Highway Patrol division chief said the CHP supports free speech rights but does not condone a traffic shutdown that could prevent emergency vehicles from crossing. "This is the wrong way to do it," he said. "This is 100% wrong, it's unacceptable and it's illegal."
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Two videos provide more details, including comments from drivers inconvenienced by the shutdown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ8gsnRy1cM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZYCznhNJ54