Miami police arrest seven pro-Palestine protesters who they say were blocking traffic
Police on Monday arrested seven people who they say were blocking the entrance to PortMiami while participating in a pro-Palestine protest in Downtown Miami.
The protesters were arrested on charges of obstructing the roadway, said Miami police spokesman Officer Michael Vega.
“There were seven arrests due to the individuals obstructing traffic and refusing to remain at the designated area near the intersection of Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 3 Street,” Vega said.
Police did not immediately release the names of those arrested.
The demonstration, involving about 150 people, was organized by the South Florida Coalition for Palestine. It was part of nationwide protests against Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks.
“We are seeing Palestinian families being completely wiped out, lacking any access to food, diseases rising, and yet we see them taking care of each other, praying and fighting for their basic material needs,” Valentina Jadue, one of the protesters, said in a statement released by the group.
Organizers said they chose Tax Day as the time to conduct the demonstrations. In a statement, they noted it was important that “protesters made clear that business cannot go on as usual as we witness Israel’s unfathomable violence against the Palestinians of Gaza.”
“We are seeing resistance by the Palestinian people and by the world. People are fed up and cannot bear to watch this genocide continue or have our tax dollars go to funding war and weapons being used to murder Palestinians. This is why we are here today,” Jadue added.
In several cities, protesters blocked major traffic arteries, including the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
In Florida, however, obstructing the roadway is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine up to $1,000. Officials across the state have stressed the tactic is not an acceptable for of protest in Florida.
“In Florida, anyone who blocks traffic will be immediately arrested,” the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles said in a statement on X following news of the arrests. “This includes any act that obstructs the normal flow of traffic, such as standing, approaching, or endangering the safe movement of vehicles or pedestrians.”
The coalition said in a statement that the people arrested were “aggressively dragged and arrested by the police.”
The group said demonstrators included “Jews, Palestinians, and others from various backgrounds — health care workers, writers, educators, students, abolitionists, racial justice organizers, healers, food justice workers, professors, and social justice activists.”
