Protesters blocked highway entering O’Hare airport
Protesters gathered with signs in support of Palestinians as part of a multicity “economic blockade” opposing the war in Gaza blocked inbound traffic to Chicago O’Hare International Airport Monday morning.
The airport announced the delay on X, formerly known as Twitter, and encouraged travelers to consider different methods of travel including the CTA Blue Line.
The post said the protest on I-190 might have a substantial delay on incoming traffic. Protesters also reportedly shut down roads in Oakland, California, and San Antonio, Texas.
Around 9:25 a.m., the Chicago Department of Aviation said inbound traffic heading toward O’Hare was resuming. The airport’s X account warned travelers to allow extra time to get to the airport.
An earlier alert from Total Traffic said all outbound lanes on the Kennedy Expressway between Bessie Coleman Drive and O’Hare were blocked starting around 8:23 a.m.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a statement Monday about the protest.
“I support the idea that people should express their First Amendment rights and protest if they would like to,” Pritzker said. “I do not think that they should be disruptive of the traffic of people trying to get from one place to another … law enforcement ought to make sure that those byways and highways are open for people and still be respectful of those protests.”
According to a website designed for the April 15 protest, the action aimed to “identify and blockade major choke points in the economy, focusing on points of production and circulation.”
Video posted on social media showed travelers walking on the sides of the highway toward the airport.
Chicago police said officers responded to the protest and “multiple people” were taken into custody, but they did not have a specific number early Monday afternoon.
