The Washington State Patrol will recommend charging at least six people in relation to the Israel-Hamas war protest that shut down Interstate 5 for nearly five hours last month, the agency said.
An additional 10 people involved with the protest, which led to backups extending miles south of Seattle, are still being investigated, said Chris Loftis, a State Patrol spokesperson.
The protest, with a blockade of cars and people, shut down northbound I-5 just south of Mercer Street on Jan. 6. It caused traffic to back up 6 miles at one point. No arrests were made at the time and the State Patrol said it was caught off guard by the scale and tactics of the Saturday protest.
Protesters were calling for a cease-fire in the now four-month-old war, as well as for stopping all U.S. aid to Israel, freeing all Palestinian prisoners and Israel’s exit from the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.
Ultimately, the decision on whether to charge protesters will be made by King County prosecutors, after they review documentation and recommendations from the State Patrol.