75 arrested in protest that shut down a busy freeway in downtown LA

Protesters link arms sitting in a line across the freeway, blocking all traffic. Photo from IfNotNow LA/Facebook

LOS ANGELES – Seventy-five protesters who blocked the 110 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war were arrested yesterday, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

A group called IfNotNow Los Angeles held the protest “to demand that all of our elected officials call for a lasting ceasefire and an end to U.S. support for Israel’s war.”

The protesters sat across the Southbound lanes of the 110 Freeway at 3rd Street in downtown Los Angeles.

The protest caused thousands of drivers to get stuck on the freeway for 90 minutes before multiple lanes reopened around 10:30 a.m.

Southbound traffic was backed up past Dodger Stadium before the CHP reopened all lanes around 11:30 a.m.

CHP responded to the protest shortly after 9 a.m. and started detaining protesters after they refused to clear the road, CBS Los Angeles reported.

Many of the IfNotNow demonstrators wore black T-shirts emblazoned with the words: “Jews Say Cease-Fire Now.”

“We cannot be silent. We have to keep being impossible to ignore until the killing stops, until the mass displacement stops, until the hostages are home, and until the weapons are laid down,” the group wrote in a post on social media afterward. “To those stuck in traffic, we sincerely apologize. We wish there was another way. We have tried everything else.”

A group called IfNotNow Los Angeles held the protest to demand that elected officials call for a lasting ceasefire and an end to US support for Israel’s war. Photo from IfNotNow LA/Facebook

Videos circulating online show activists linking arms across the major artery demanding “cease-fire now,” “down, down, with occupation,” and even featured a symbolic lighting of a Hanukkah menorah.

“Our action is grounded in our nonviolent philosophy and doing what we can with our bodies and voices,” a group spokesperson, Noa Kattler-Kupetz told the Los Angeles Times following the demonstration.

KNX News reported from the scene that protesters appeared to have gotten out of cars on the freeway then walked across all lanes, initially chanting “shut it down” then eventually linking arms and sitting in a line across the freeway, blocking all traffic.

The group later erected a large menorah on the freeway while chanting slogans such as “Ceasefire now.”

Video from the scene showed what appeared to be some frustrated motorists arguing and even shoving some protesters. (With CNS report)