Eleven people were arrested Friday afternoon after a group of pro-Palestine protestors blocked both ramps at Exit 7 of I-295 in Portland, a demonstration that saw left-wing activists defend the Palestinian terror group Hamas and compare Israel to Nazi Germany.
The large mob of protestors began blocking the Franklin Street Arterial around 1:30 p.m. Friday, near the intersection of Franklin Street and Marginal Way, according to the Portland Police Department.
Police say both the off-ramp and on-ramps to Exit 7 were blocked by the protestors, causing traffic delays and congestion on the primary interstate flowing into and out of Maine’s largest city. The Franklin Street Arterial was closed until around 3 p.m., when police left the area.
After police left the protest, a person with a megaphone led chants of “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “Shame on Portland PD.”
One sign at Friday’s protest displayed a drawing equating the Israeli flag to the flag of Nazi Germany, with a caption reading “RESISTANCE ≠ TERRORISM,” “STOP THE GENOCIDE!!!” and “SANCTION ISRAEL!!!”
According to Portland Police, eleven people were arrested as a result of the protest.
The following eleven individuals were charged with Obstructing a Public Way:
- Mark Roman, 76, of Solon;
- Sophia Fuller, 77, of Belfast;
- Abigail Fuller, 63, of Portland;
- Jamila Fuller, 69, of Waldo;
- Paige Milligan, 34, of Brunswick;
- Lisa Savage, 69, of Solon;
- Roryalice Hoecker, 29, of Portland;
- Haley Marchant, 33, of Old Orchard Beach;
- Hallie Herz, 25, of Portland;
- Yusef Ebrahim, 27, of Portland;
- Natalie Joyce, 25, of Waterville.
The eleven individuals arrested were taken to the Cumberland County Jail; however, it’s unclear whether they will actually be prosecuted, as Maine’s district attorneys tend to drop charges in all but the most heinous of crimes.
Friday’s protest in Portland is the latest in a series of pro-Palestine protests that have occurred throughout Maine since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023. Although the protest organizers claim to be advocating for the people of the Gaza Strip, the protests have often descended into pro-Hamas rhetoric and anti-Semitic rhetoric.
A pro-Palestine rally organized by the Maine Democratic Socialists of America in Portland’s Monument Square in October featured a speaker calling Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel “morally and legally legitimate.”
Also last year, two Jewish-owned businesses were vandalized with pro-Palestine messages, including a Jewish-owned law practice that had displayed an Israeli flag in its storefront window.
In the northern part of the state, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s Bangor office has been vandalized multiple times with similar messages.
In January, the Portland City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="25213 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=25213">12 Comments
Did our dearly beloved Commie Connor and his left wing nut job buddies get arrested and put in a jail time-out? Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of looney bin candidates. Peace, love and hugs to all.
Did these geniuses take time off from work at their non-profit organizations?
Like bugs on a windshield. Thats all they deserve.
They will be bailed out with your tax dollars funneled through non-profits. Portland City Council will make sure that they are not charged. If anything the ones arrested will gain street cred and gain positions.
If any of you did it, you’d be charged with a hate crime.
Why were they allowed to b!rock traffic for so long. They should have been arrested as soon as they sat down.
I wonder if this coven of dim witted anti-American Soros toadies have also participated in demonstrations calling for the defunding of police and the invasion of our homeland by tens of millions of illegal border breachers🤔
Hard to believe that there are actually people who are so poorly informed that they believe that Hamas terrorists are somehow victims of anything.
I will never understand how blocking your neighbors going to and from work, school, life, etc will ever prove whatever point you are trying to make. You are just an asshole standing in the way. That is it, no matter how grand your argument may be.
Hope they will glue themselves to the road next time so vehicle traffic can just drive over them. There are not enough looney bins in Maine to lock these fools up in…….for their own safety.
I’m guessing no one will be prosecuted. The left can do what they want while the grandmothers and grandpops who peacefully protested on J 6 are being hunted down three years later.
How about Hamas return all hostages and unconditionally surrender? Just think of the lives saved…
Take one of these “females” and give it to her Hamas style…while buggering her from behind, take a knife and stab her if she flinches.