Anti-Trump Protesters Block Ambulance Rushing to Hospital
Arrests made at demonstration in Connecticut after 'critically ill' patient prevented from passing
by Kathryn Blackhurst | Updated 06 Feb 2017 at 10:52 AM
Protesters decrying President Donald Trump’s two-week-old administration prevented an ambulance carrying a “critically ill” patient from getting to Yale-New Haven hospital during a protest Saturday in New Haven, Connecticut.
Roughly 200 demonstrators marched to Route 34 around 5 p.m. carrying a banner emblazoned with the words “No Ban No Wall New Haven,” they blocked traffic on the highway the ambulance was taking.
The protesters “obstructed an ambulance carrying a critically ill patient,” the state police report read, according to the New Haven Independent. “Due to this delay, ambulance personnel were required to perform an emergency medical procedure in the ambulance instead of at the hospital.”
One protester in particular who stood in the ambulance’s path refused to move when asked by police to do so.
“The officers tried to guide him out of the way. He pushed an officer trying to get back,” Shift Commander Lt. Sam Brown told the Independent, noting that the man was brought to the ground and arrested.
The patient’s resulting condition has not been publicly disclosed.
Police at the scene arrested at least three protesters, including Norman Clement, one of the organizers. Clement incurred several charges, including inciting a riot and disorderly conduct.
But the New Haven demonstration only proved to be the latest in a wave of nearly weekly anti-Trump protests across the nation that have endangered American lives or caused horrific damage.
On Jan. 20, thousands of protesters descended upon D.C. to disrupt Trump’s inaugural ceremony in whatever ways they could find. Claiming that justice was on their side, some of the protesters turned violent and threw “rocks, bottles, flares, and unknown liquids” at police officers, CBS News reported. Six officers were injured while the police arrested 217 protesters in the nation’s capitol. And on top of all that, rioters set a limousine on fire, damaged other vehicles, smashed in store windows, destroyed other pieces of property and set other objects aflame while armed with hammers, crowbars and other weapons.
Violence occurred elsewhere across the country on Inauguration Day as rioters engaged in behavior that was severely destructive to their own communities. In Portland, Oregon, rioters armed with sticks and clubs attacked officers. In Seattle, Washington, protesters chucked bricks at the police and a man was shot.
Even before Trump's inauguration, the protesters sometimes became violent. Just two days after Trump's Nov. 8 victory, protesters in Portland began a riot, set a dumpster on fire, and engaged in vandalism that concluded with 29 arrests. The demonstrators also attacked drivers and smashed store windows as Portland police were "trying to get anarchist groups to stop destroying property," according to their report. That same evening, protesters in Denver, Colorado, succeeded in blocking Interstate 25 for a half hour.
"It’s happening," New Haven Assistant Police Chief Tony Reyes told the Independent. "We have to be ready to deal with and try to do it in a way that balances our commitment to community policing while keeping our officers safe."
http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/a...ock-ambulance/
