Anti-Israel agitators who blocked Seattle airport, delayed flights, see charges dropped in exchange for community service

The city of Sea-Tac, where Seattle's airport is located, is dismissing charges against 46 anti-Israel activists who blocked a freeway leading to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for three hours and delayed flights in April.

The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI was the first to report that to have the charges dismissed the defendants must complete 10 hours of community service or have no criminal violations after three months to be considered for dismissal. The court did not specify if those hours could be fulfilled by volunteering for the non-profits that sponsored the action—meaning that the agitators could serve their time by furthering the cause for which they are serving time.

Additionally, the activists are not allowed on the property of Sea-Tac International Airport “except for personal travel until charges are resolved, up to a period of 6 months," according to a spokesperson for the city. Even before the deal, charges against 9 of the activists were dismissed because of a shortage of public defenders.

Earlier this year, The Post Millennial reported that cities in Washington were expressing concerns to the state Supreme Court regarding a plan by the state bar association to reduce the caseload for public defenders, which they were cautioned could result in cases being dismissed and budgets skyrocketing as the number of new attorneys needed would increase.
 

Regina Sassoon Friedland, Regional Director for the American Jewish Committee in Seattle told The Ari Hoffman Show on 570 KVI in a statement, "By dropping charges against the Sea-Tac protesters, prosecutors are effectively rewarding them for their unlawful actions. While Americans enjoy freedom of speech, that freedom is not unlimited. When it is stretched beyond legal limits, there must be accountability not lawlessness." 

"The defendants are not even getting a slap on the wrist for shutting down an expressway, delaying dozens of flights, and inconveniencing hundreds of passengers all while spreading lies and distortions about Israel," she continued. "This protest was part of an alarming pattern of anti-Zionist and even outright antisemitic activity that has been all too common in the Seattle area since the October 7 Hamas attack, which has left many Jewish residents feeling uneasy and fearing for their safety."

Friedland cautioned that "Dismissing charges sends the wrong signal to not only the Jewish community but to other would-be lawbreakers who might be emboldened to take even more drastic action."

The anti-Israel activists who were arrested in April for blocking the freeway leading to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were charged with two misdemeanors: failing to disperse, and disorderly conduct. Each offense was punishable by up to 90 days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.

They were bailed out of jail by the Northwest Community Bail Fund, an organization committed to defunding the police and abolishing prisons.

The 46 activists used four cars and a van to block the freeway and a piping device called a "Sleeping Dragon" to lock their arms together to protest Israel's war against Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza. The Hamas-supporting activists exited the vehicles with flags and banners and began chanting on the freeway while others covered themselves with fake blood.

At the time, a spokesperson for the Port of Seattle said “20-24 flights were delayed. The majority were 20 minutes or less. The longest were two international flights that were delayed 90 and 77 minutes as their flight crews were delayed by the blockage.” Some travelers opted to walk to the terminal hoping to make their flights.

The city did not specify how many of the remaining 37 defendants signed the agreement but did note that a few did not sign and were thinking it over.

The action was part of a so-called "Coordinated Economic Blockade to Free Palestine" to oppose the bombing of terrorists in Yemen and "to secure global trade, and billions of dollars are sent to the Zionist war machine" in cities across the US. Similar actions were taken by activists in other cities who blocked the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, and highways leading to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, among other roads and bridges in the US.