Pro-Palestinian demonstrators who blocked road near Sea-Tac airport plead not guilty

SEATAC, Wash. (AP) — More than three dozen pro-Palestinian protesters accused of blocking a main road into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last month pleaded not guilty on Monday to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and failing to disperse.

Thirty-seven people pleaded not guilty in SeaTac Municipal Court, where Judge Pauline Freund returned $500 bail to each of them and released them on conditions including not returning to the airport without a travel purpose and appearing at their pretrial hearings June 11, The Seattle Times reported.

At least five others who were arrested hired private attorneys and waived arraignment, according to the City of SeaTac.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said that on April 15, a demonstration closed the main road to the airport for several hours. Social media posts showed people holding a banner and waving Palestinian flags while standing on the highway. Demonstrators also blocked roadways near airports in Illinois, California and New York on that day.

Outside the SeaTac City Hall after the arraignment, several people declined to speak to the newspaper about their cases except to say, “Free Palestine.”

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