OAN Staff James Meyers
3:25 PM – Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Pro-Palestine protesters blocked part of the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.
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The group appeared on the southbound side of the freeway near National Boulevard in L.A.’s Westside around 9 a.m., demanding a ceasefire and U.S. Arms Embargo on Israel.
“Today, American Jews risked their bodies to demand a lasting ceasefire and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel,” the Jewish activist group If Not Now LA, whose members joined the protest, wrote on Instagram.
“Joe Biden’s administration cannot provide $14 billion in unconditional aid to Israel, cosigning the unbridled murders of Palestinian civilians. A call for a lasting ceasefire is only meaningful if there will be no more funds given to the Israeli military.”
According to California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Mike Naser, the freeway was shut down at National Boulevard as of 9:10 a.m., but was reopened completely just over an hour after the protest initially began.
The protesters carried signs calling for an embargo and pleading with fellow Jews to reject the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel group that spends heavily on U.S. congressional races, which included the recent defeat of Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo.).
Drivers were advised to get off at Olympic Boulevard and divert to the 10 Freeway while the protesters blocked traffic.
Videos posted to social media platforms at 9:35 a.m. show CHP officers detaining multiple people as other demonstrators chanted and marched along the shoulder.
A total of eight arrests were made, CHP confirmed to KTLA. They also confirmed that there were around 40 protesters on the freeway. Most of them left on foot when police arrived.
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