Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, angered by U.S. support of Israel, trespassed at the Port of Oakland in California and blocked a U.S. government ship.
According to KTVU, approximately 200 protesters with the Arab Resource and Organizing Center gathered close to The Cape Orlando, a merchant marine ship managed by the Department of Transportation, at around 8 a.m. on Friday morning.
A couple of hundred more protesters gathered at the gate after port security closed the entryway, the outlet said.
CBS News reported that three protesters held on to a rope ladder and refused to let workers close one of the ship’s door.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters were seen on Friday blocking a U.S. government ship. (KTVU FOX 2)
CBS News reported that three protesters held on to a rope ladder and refused to let workers close one of the ship’s door. (KTVU FOX 2)
One social media post shows protesters chanting “Joe Biden you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!”
Demonstrators were seen waving Palestinian flags and holding banners reading, “Biden, Pelosi: Don’t Aid and Abet War Crimes, Ceasefire!”
Another banner read, “No U.S. Military Aid to Israel.”
According to the report, a negotiator with the U.S. Coast Guard failed at attempting to get the protesters off the ship.
Pro-Palestinian protester Mohamed Shehk insisted that the protests were peaceful and that the demonstrators came to “show their solidarity with Palestinian people.”
“We came on through. The gates were open. This is obviously a peaceful protest, and we are here to show our solidarity with the Palestinian people,” Shehk said to KTVU.
The Oakland Police Department and the U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request on if any of the demonstrators were arrested during the protest.
A pro-Palestinian protester told KTVU that the demonstrators were “peaceful.” (KTVU FOX 2)
The protests come one day after the House of Representatives approved sending $14.3 billion in federal aid dollars to Israel in a 226 to 196 vote on Thursday, with 12 Democrats joining Republicans to pass it.
Under the bill, funding will be reallocated from money that was meant for the IRS in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Just two Republicans voted against the bill — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
