Pro-Gaza protesters arrested for closing Manhattan Bridge

May 12 (UPI) — Hundreds of protesters closed the Manhattan Bridge in New York City on Saturday in support of Gaza as the NYPD struggles to accommodate demonstrations protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Kaz Daughtry, NYPD deputy commissioner of operations, said on social media that more than 100 protesters intentionally blocked traffic lanes on the Manhattan Bridge. He shared aerial footage showing police arresting protesters. According to the New York Post, those arrested included journalists covering the march.

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“This footage gives us a bird’s-eye view of how our officers arrest individuals, restore order and keep NYC moving. This is more than an inconvenience, it poses a risk to public safety,” Daughtry claimed.

Police in the United States often cite other laws relating to trespassing and blocking streets as justification for shutting down gatherings that would otherwise be protected by the First Amendment, without providing other venues for public protests.

“The NYPD will always protect freedom of speech and protest, but we will not tolerate lawlessness!” Daughtry said in his post.

In September 2023, before the outbreak of Israel’s most recent war on Gaza, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Aid Society agreed to a draft agreement with New York Attorney General Letitia James and the NYPD that would require police to police such demonstrations in the aftermath will support the George Floyd protests in 2020 whenever possible.

“The parties aim for a policing approach that guarantees the rights of protesters, journalists and legal observers and uses arrests and force only when necessary and consistent with (the constitution and local laws),” it said of the agreement.

Marching on public streets and across bridges has been a staple of protest movements since Martin Luther King Jr. led civil rights activists across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

But since the war broke out in Gaza, the NYPD has become increasingly political under the leadership of pro-Israel Mayor Eric Adams.

In November, the Police Benevolent Association – the influential union – filed a motion opposing the agreement. The police union doubts that police could be forced not to respond to a protest until it turns violent.