The pro-Hamas demonstrations are not fading away as time marches on. They are increasing.
This week we have seen pro-Hamas protesters block traffic on bridges and major roads during rush hours. The protests are organized and well-funded. NBC News reported in March that funding comes from “a vast network that includes left-leaning, billion-dollar American philanthropies and collaboration with at least one foreign organization that Germany and Israel have banned for allegedly working with or supporting Hamas and another terrorist group.” Think, for example, George Soros.
On Tuesday, major demonstrations stopped traffic in Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, San Antonio, and other major cities. Traffic was backed up for miles in some places. This is a public safety nightmare. Most cities have laws against blocking public thoroughfares. Blocked airports, roads, highways, and bridges are a hindrance to first responders and law enforcement. Ambulances can’t get to hospitals, and law enforcement can’t get to the scenes of crimes. All of that puts lives in danger.
Some governors and mayors are slow to act if they act at all. When the pro-Hamas useful idiots began to demonstrate immediately after the October 7, 2023 massacres committed by Hamas in Israel, they were not stopped. They were allowed to shut down areas in major cities and they did so with impunity.
It looks as though the tide may be slowly turning back to sanity. Governor Brian Kemp is instructing his top cop to lock them up. He is not going to allow Atlanta traffic to be shut down.
Kemp called Col. Billy Hitchens, the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, to make sure his position was clear.
“I know I don’t need to make this call,” he said, recounting his conversation, “but you know how I feel about people blocking bridges, airports, and other things like we’re seeing around the country. I said if they do that, lock their ass up.”
Governor Kemp relayed his instructions to a crowd of about 300 attendees of the annual gala for Greater Georgia, a conservative political organization launched by former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler. The crowd is reported to have gone wild in its applause of Kemp’s remarks.
Kemp said those demonstrations are not welcome in Georgia.
“We continue to send the message in this state that we’re going to keep you safe and not put up with this insanity,” he said.
This is what must be done. Governors and local officials must take control when demonstrations put the general public at risk. Hold demonstrations in places where life can go on for the general population, like in city parks. Shutting down roads and highways does not bring anyone to the side of the protesters. It angers people trying to go about their lives, whether it is trying to get to work or school, or parents trying to pick up their children.
The pro-Hamas protesters are escalating their behavior because they can. For too long, law enforcement has been ordered to stand down. They monitor the protests from the sideline. Let the police do their job. Enforce laws that prevent risk to public safety. The pro-Hamas useful idiots have to be removed and held accountable for their actions.