Pro-Palestinian advocates allegedly attacked while holding a banner over Highway 101 – NBC Bay Area

The California Highway Patrol has launched an investigation after two pro-Palestinian advocates said they were attacked while holding a banner over Highway 101 in the peninsula.

On Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a video showing the alleged hate crime that occurred on a crosswalk in Menlo Park on May 5.

CAIR said a man seen in the video tore down a banner posted by two volunteers from the Northern California Islamic Council calling for peace in Gaza and then tried to throw it onto the highway.

CAIR also claims the man grabbed one of the protester’s backpacks and threw it onto the highway before doing the same with his hat and later sunglasses.

“We are very concerned that these incidents are continuing and, in some cases, escalating,” said Zahra Billoo, executive director of CAIR – San Francisco Bay Area.

Billoo said this was the third such incident in the Bay Area since the Israel-Hamas war began.

“It is important that CHP and other local law enforcement agencies investigate and act quickly,” she said. “This will actually make our community feel safer.”

The CHP confirmed that officers responded and interviewed the man involved and witnesses before ultimately releasing the man. They have filed a police report and are investigating.