SEATAC, Washington (AP) — Charges of disturbing the peace and failing to disperse protests are expected to be dropped against more than three dozen pro-Palestinian protesters accused of blocking a main road to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in April.
SeaTac city prosecutors this week agreed to drop the charges after a maximum of six months, on the condition that the defendants attend all necessary court hearings, have not committed any crimes and do not visit Sea-Tac Airport grounds except for travel purposes, the Seattle Times reported.
The defendants can seek immediate release if they complete 10 hours of community service or after three months if they meet conditions. The defendants were willing to accept the deal rather than take their cases to trial, said Hope Freije, a spokeswoman for The Sea-Tac 46 but not a defendant herself.
SeaTac spokeswoman Catherine Rogers wrote in an email to the newspaper that prosecutors would not file new charges against some of the protesters whose cases had already been dismissed because they could not get a public defender.
On April 15, the demonstration blocked the main road to the airport for several hours, according to the Washington State Patrol. Social media posts showed people standing on the highway holding a banner and waving Palestinian flags. In a coordinated action, protesters also blocked roads near airports in California, Illinois and New York that day.
The demonstrators demanded an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and an end to military aid to Israel.
Less than 24 hours after the protest, Seattle Harbor Police referred the charges of disturbing the peace and failure to disperse to SeaTac’s law department. All 46 defendants were released from jail on $500 bail.
A few days ago, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office filed charges against 26 protesters who blocked the Golden Gate Bridge for hours that same day. The protesters face several other charges, including conspiracy, false imprisonment and obstruction of a thoroughfare, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said.
The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office said it expected to represent some of the defendants and asked that the charges be dismissed.
In March, the San Francisco district attorney’s office dropped charges against 78 protesters who blocked traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for hours in November to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, prosecutors said.
People calling for a ceasefire have been disrupting traffic and events in Western Washington for months. In May, six people pleaded not guilty to charges related to a protest rally that led to a temporary closure of Interstate 5 in Seattle in January.
