Saturday, in New Haven, Connecticut, hundreds of anti-Trump protesters blocked traffic on I-95. Police officers were called in to disperse the blockage, and get things moving again.
According to FOX61:
State police said the protesters were in the process of being cleared from the highway, but not before they blocked an ambulance carrying a critically ill patient. Due to this delay, EMTs had to perform an emergency medical procedure in the ambulance, instead of at the hospital, state police said.
The patient has yet to be identified, however, several outlets are reporting that it was a woman in labor.
Police arrested the ringleader of the protest, Norman Clement, and charged him with “inciting a riot, disorderly conduct, interfering with an officer and reckless use of the highway by a pedestrian,” reports the Associated Press.
Patricia Kane, the attorney for the protesters, claims the highway-blocking activists had asked police to let them know if any emergency vehicles needed to pass their barricade:
“I asked Norm, had anyone informed the group there was an emergency and had they failed to move aside?” Kane said. “He said nobody had said anything to them, and he repeated that if there was an emergency they would step aside.”
This defense is astounding. Telling the police to warn you if an emergency vehicle needs passage as you perform your illegal road block is like a bank robber telling the police to let him know if anyone needs to make an emergency cash withdrawal while he’s looting the bank.
Also, according to New Haven Independent:
…a city police officer asked one of the protesters to move out of the way of an emergency vehicle, according to shift commander Lt. Sam Brown. Brown said the man refused to move. “The officers tried to guide him out of the way. He pushed an officer trying to get back.” The officers brought him to the ground and arrested him.
So, there goes that excuse.
In short, protesters cluttered I-95, blocking traffic (which is illegal), keeping people from work, or family events, and preventing an ambulance from moving through. Police dispersed the crowd and arrested Mr. Clement. An attorney working for the protesters blames the police.
We, as Americans, have the right to protest our government, so long as we do it peacefully, and in a manner that doesn’t break the law. In blocking I-95, these protesters lost any high ground they had. They broke the law, and because of it, an emergency medical procedure had to take place inside of an ambulance instead of a hospital.
Fortunately, the individual in the ambulance is likely alive, though reports are still unclear. Had it been a more serious situation, someone could have died. In that case, the self-satisfied, law-breaking protesters would have borne the responsibility for that person’s death.
Protesters who block roads place their ego above the well-being of other people. It’s small-minded and nasty.