Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
April 16, 2024
While the penalties and consequences may vary from state to state, it is against the law to stifle traffic on the public roadways, bridges, highways, and waterways as it is likewise to prevent business traffic from flowing from one entity to another.
Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 innocent Israeli children, women, and men, and the taking hostage of an additional 250 innocent people from Israel, the United States, Italy, Mexico, and numerous other sovereign nations, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, anti-Israel protests, graffiti, violence, and even killings, have risen exponentially. This has been done in the name of faux outrage, alleged self defense, self determination, which has only been prevented by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Peaceful protesting and marching is always protected, as the Tuesday November 14, 2023 gathering on the National Mall in the nation’s capital in support of Israel, the memories of those innocents murdered on October 7, as well as the hostages, being held more than 190 days as of April 17. More than 290,000 people peaceably assembled that afternoon.
What is not protected, what should never be protected, are chants of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as that serves to incite violence calling for the elimination of Israel and the Jewish people. What should never be protected are threats against the lives of any student on or off any campus - regardless of faith or ethnicity. Jewish students should never have had to take refuge in locked libraries, locked classrooms, or be too afraid to leave their dorm rooms to attend classes or eat in the dining halls on their campuses, yet these situations are happening with alarming frequency.
Also not protected are the brazen, inconsiderate, illegal actions taken by hundreds around the country on Monday, April 15. In a coordinated effort by “A15 Economic Blockades for a Free Palestine,” protesters, potentially domestic terrorists, in 50 global localities disrupted and inconvenienced as many people as possible in order to garner attention for their cause.
In making infinitely more enemies than friends, A15 (April 15, the date of these illegal protests) set out to “identify and blockade major choke points in the economy focusing on points of production and circulation with the aim of causing the most economic impact. …there is a need to shift from symbolic actions to those that cause pain to the economy. …together we will coordinate to disrupt and blockade economic logistical hubs and the flow of capital,” according to the organization’s website.
Examples of the dastardly and illegal activities in the United States include crippling traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the Golden Gate Bridge in California. On the Golden Gate traffic sat at a standstill for five hours. With what was estimated to be a protest of about 10 people, police couldn’t extricate them in short order because these anti-Israel chuckleheads chained themselves to each other and to their vehicles. Some used PVC piping to link to each other. In Oakland, California Highway Patrol reported protesters “chained themselves to 55 gallon barrels filled with cement and stuck their arms in them in PVC pipe,” in an effort to thwart law enforcement from easily removing them. These are illegal protests; gatherings not protected as free speech, expression, or the right to assemble.
Similar illegal, disruptive protests occurred on the Kennedy Expressway leading to O’ Hare International Airport in Chicago where travelers hopped out of vehicles and literally ran with their luggage hoping to catch their flights, the main road toward Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Center City in Philadelphia, Interstate 5 in Eugene, Oregon, Orange County, California, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and in Western Massachusetts. The following cities also suffered deleterious impact: Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Long Beach, California, Miami, Oakland, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, St. Louis, Tallahassee, and Tampa. Internationally, 10 such protests took place in Australia, as well as others in Asia, Europe, South Africa, and South America.
In committing these crimes, these miscreants prevented people from getting to work or school on time, getting to appointments - medical or otherwise. More importantly, these wrong-minded activists prevented ambulances, fire trucks, and other emergency vehicles from reaching their destination, perhaps responsible for any number of fatalities. The protesters must be charged appropriately should there be any fatalities.
In attempting to make their point in support of Palestinians, Hamas, Hezbollah, and any other proxies under the thumb of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while simultaneously condemning Israel simply for defending itself, A15 damaged any credibility it may have had, if it had any at all, and encouraged scorn and animus from its target audience. Each and every participant in these outrageous and illegal protest events should be arrested, charged to the fullest extent allowable by law, not released on bail, and if found guilty, given the maximum penalty allowable by law. Potential criminal charges include, but are not limited to, false imprisonment, unlawful assembly, conspiracy, and unlawfully stopping on a bridge. These crimes and subsequent penalties should follow the protesters for life when applying for jobs, applying to schools, or any situation where their moral integrity is a question.
Additionally, there were numerous protesters burning American flags. Some chanting “death to America,” and/or “death to Israel,” and/or chanting for America to fall - all on AMERICAN soil. Free speech dictates that one can burn an American flag (yet why burning a rainbow flag is considered a hate crime, is clearly a double standard, but that’s a column for another day). One can even shout insults that are offensive. Where speech is no longer protected is when it incites violence, which chanting “death to America,” most certainly does. Those purporting such an emotion must be charged accordingly and should have their names placed on the terror watch list. These malcontents are calling for the destruction of the United States of America and are hellbent on the downfall of Western Civilization. They must suffer the consequences of their actions and their incendiary words.
Those who are arrested can actually be bailed out or seek defense from funds raised by ACTBLUE.com - the online fundraising arm of the Democrat Party. (The GOP has one as well, called WINRED.) This Democrat Party supported website asks for people to “support the A15 Bail & Legal Defense Fund!” It continues, “Donate here to support community members who are criminalized in the U.S. for their solidarity with Palestine.” Unpacking this one section at a time, there is no Palestine. Transjordan, as created by the Balfour Declaration, was designated as a Palestinian homeland. No one is being criminalized in the U.S. for peacefully supporting a Palestinian state. Protesters are, or should be, charged with the aforementioned crimes.
The ACTBLUE page supporting A15 continues with, “Should actions of the state result in the need for it, these funds will be used for bail, legal defense, and support for defendants.” Here too, this is misinformation. There are no actions of the state. If anything it is the actions of the protesters causing REactions of the state as is necessary when laws are broken and crimes committed.
These protesters are not American patriots. They are anti-American, anti-Israel, pro-Hamas, depending on the length they wish to traverse, domestic terrorists. The FBI should investigate these people to ensure the safety of the nation. We the people have the right to be protected by the government against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The wide open, porous southern border is horrifying enough with close to 10 million illegal aliens having invaded the United States during the span of the Biden administration, with no end in sight. At the very least, we the people should be protected from those domestic terrorists helpful enough to be caught on video committing their mischief and criminal activities.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
