Attorney General Brenna Bird led a 12-state coalition in a brief stating people trapped in gridlock traffic by pro-Hamas protestors who blocked the highway leading to Chicago’s O’Hare airport should be allowed to continue their lawsuit.
On April 15, 2024, in Chicago, protesters blocked lanes of Interstate 190 leading into O’Hare International Airport. A plaintiff sued the organizers for damages, alleging that they illegally confined the thousands of people in hours of traffic—with no escape.
The district court dismissed the claims, even while acknowledging that the organizational and individual defendants were trying to “inflict pain” on Chicagoans. The court suggested that plaintiff should have abandoned his car on the highway and walked to the airport. That is not right.
“A right to protest does not mean a right to block an interstate, blockade an airport, stop hardworking people from getting to work, or risk lives by stopping ambulances,” said Attorney General Bird. “With their orchestrated actions designed at a time and place to cause the most disruption, the pro-terrorism protestors broke the law and should be held accountable in court.”
The Iowa-led brief is joined by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, and Oklahoma.
Read full brief here.
