Traffic on both lanes of California’s Golden Gate Bridge has been shut down Monday, the California Highway Patrol tells Fox News Digital, as images emerging from the scene showed anti-Israel protesters holding banners with the messages “Stop the world for Gaza” and “End the siege on Gaza now!”
A similar demonstration has also blocked traffic on Interstate-880 in Oakland.
“Golden Gate Bridge is closed in both directions for an undetermined amount of time,” the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said in a statement, citing a “civic demonstration.”
Aerial images captured by KTVU later showed the Golden Gate Bridge protesters being taken into custody and the banners being put away.
Anti-Israel protesters disrupt traffic Monday, April 15 on the Golden Gate Bridge in California. (KTVU)
CHP PIO Andrew Barclay told Fox News that seven protesters have been removed, and more could be removed. He also said officers are now trying to remove protesters who are chained to their cars and is unsure how long that action will take.
“These protesters are facing multiple charges of which can include, but are not limited to refusal to disperse, blocking traffic, blocking a bridge, which is a specific penal code in CA,” Barclay said. “While they do have the right to protest, the manner in which they are doing it is not only illegal but incredibly dangerous.”
In the Oakland protest, seven demonstrators were attached to concrete barrels that have been placed in the middle of the roadway, according to KRON.
A flag attached to a fence there says “A-15 economic blockade for a Free Palestine.”
The A15 Action group says on its website, “There is a sense in the streets in this recent and unprecedented movement for Palestine that escalation has become necessary: there is a need to shift from symbolic actions to those that cause pain to the economy.”
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS SHUT DOWN SENATE CAFETERIA; AROUND 50 ARRESTED
“The global economy is complicit in genocide,” it adds. “Join participating cities in blocking the arteries of capitalism and jamming the wheels of production.”
Real-time traffic data from Google Maps shows extensive delays building up in the Bay Area as a result of the protests.
Traffic has been stopped on the Golden Gate Bridge due to the protest. (KTVU)
Other protests have also been reported across the nation, from the front of Philadelphia’s city hall, to downtown Miami, and Chicago’s O’Hare International airport.
Sky News Australia reported on Sunday that a global pro-Palestine rally has been planned for Monday, but in an effort to cause maximum disruption, the activists have refused to disclose protest locations.
Fox News’ Alexandria Hernandez contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.