How much longer will we put up with “peaceful protests” actually being violent riots?
How many more times will we allow our roads and bridges to be shut down for the leftist lunacy of the day before we say enough?
This week, a pro-Palestinian protest shut down the Manhattan Bridge.
It wasn’t the first time the bridge had been brought to a standstill to ostensibly take a stand for Palestine.
The bridge was shut down in November too.
As The Post reported at the time, “Three demonstrators — one woman and two men — were arrested during the protest, according to law enforcement sources. One protester could be seen spray painting ‘Gaza’ on a support beam of the bridge.”
It was the Brooklyn Bridge last week that saw the pro-intifada crowd shut down its lanes and the Williamsburg Bridge before that.
It’s also not just New York.
San Francisco’s Bay Bridge has been shut down twice recently for the same cause.
On Wednesday, the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles was brought to a halt.
And it’s not just traffic stoppage, although that should be bad enough on its own to prompt arrests.
These protesters have disrupted Christmas tree lightings and House Judiciary Committee hearings, vandalized property, threatened businesses and committed acts of violence.
A burning police hat, stolen off the head of an officer, is symbolic for how the protesters are running the show and we’re all watching from the sidelines.
The situation has spiraled out of control, and no one is doing anything about it.
It didn’t begin with the recent war in the Middle East either.
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Far-left agitators have come to expect that they can do whatever they want for any of their causes.
They throw paint on artwork to protest climate change.
Storm government buildings for gun control.
Get a mob to go to a Supreme Court justice’s home because they don’t like his decisions.
And let’s not forget the “summer of love” in 2020 when buildings burned and people were murdered in support of Black Lives Matter.
It’s a lie that these protests are “peaceful”; in fact, very few have been peaceful in the last decade.
The groups primarily consist of overgrown babies who haven’t been told “No” enough in their lives.
They rampage through our cities with little to no pushback.
We can’t continue to allow this.
Our cities are still teetering after COVID-era policies caused so much economic damage.
There’s a chaos that occurs in the wake of these riots that adds a layer of fear for law-abiding citizens who just want to get home from work but can’t because college kids with trust funds are blocking the roadway.
People deserve to live in places without occasional unchecked mayhem.
Police have to start making mass arrests, and prosecutors need to enforce the laws.
They’re currently leaving regular people to handle these tantruming protesters on their own.
The shutdown of the freeway in LA led to a large fight as drivers tried to move demonstrators out of the way.
They shouldn’t have to do that.
California highway patrol officers did intervene and eventually made arrests, but like most police activity in response to these protests, they seemed unprepared for the protest at all.
It’s long past the time to start anticipating these chaos-causing events and making arrests for law-breaking.
No, these people don’t get to stop traffic or deface property because they super care about their cause.
Just like we tell small children to “use your words,” so should these activists be forced to conform to our societal rules and laws.
We have law-enforcement apparatus in place that is supposed to protect the citizenry from those who wish to cause disorder.
Citizens shouldn’t have to just take it when the movement of the day causes disarray in their lives.
“Mostly peaceful” protests just won’t do anymore.
Mostly arrested protesters will.
Twitter: @Karol
Source link: https://nypost.com/2023/12/14/opinion/protesters-closing-roads-bridges-are-rioters-arrest-them-all/