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Protesters against the war in Gaza shut down two major Bay Area traffic arteries Monday, causing widespread gridlock and commuter chaos.
Traffic was stopped throughout the morning and into the afternoon in both directions along a two-mile section of Interstate 880 in Oakland and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Media reported that on I-880, protestors had locked themselves to concrete-filled barrels strewn across the northbound lanes of freeway while other protesters occupied the southbound lanes. On the Golden Gate Bridge, protesters had blocked traffic in both directions, some locking themselves in cars while others held a sign saying, “Stop the World for Gaza.”
The Golden Gate Bridge reopened in both directions shortly before 1 p.m. Authorities gradually reopened sections of the I-880, with the final section cleared for traffic shortly after 2 p.m. nearly eight hours after portions were shut.
An unspecified number of arrests were reported at both sites.
There were reports of other protests elsewhere in the country, including Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, San Antonio, Texas and Tampa, Fla., as well as in Canada and Australia. Some pro-Palestinian posters on social media designated Monday as a global day of protest against war in Gaza and said the U.S. protests were timed to coincide with "Tax Day" to illustrate that U.S. taxes were helping to fund the war. Six months of widespread bombardment by Israel has killed more than 30,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health officials claim. The bombardment followed Oct. 7 attacks in Israel by terrorist group Hamas, which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,000 people.
