Portland police arrested 20 pro-Palestinian protesters who they say blocked the intersection of Commercial and Pearl streets near the U.S. Custom House on Wednesday afternoon.
Dozens of people had assembled on the street corner, the sidewalk and in the road around 3:30 p.m. Some waved Palestinian flags, while others held signs that charged “Gaza is starving” and called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be imprisoned.
The demonstration came after two of the last remaining hospitals in Gaza had been forced to cease operations, and as the Israeli army conducts a renewed offensive on the territory.
The United Nations charged Wednesday that it has not been able to distribute aid shipments, and officials have warned that Gaza is on the verge of famine. Netanyahu announced on the same day that Israel will implement a new aid distribution system in the coming days.
This has prompted heightened tensions and an increase in antisemitic acts worldwide, including the fatal attack on two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night.
They were shot and killed after leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, and police say the suspect yelled “Free, free Palestine” after being arrested.
Two people who were arrested in Portland said in phone interviews Thursday that even before arriving to the protest, they planned to stay in the road with their peers and disrupt “business as usual.”
Officers warned the group twice — at 4:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. — over a loudspeaker to “move or face arrest,” the department said in a statement. At 4:40 p.m., officers began taking people into custody and transported them to the Cumberland County Jail in police vans.
In total, 20 people, from across the state and ranging in age from 22 to 87, were booked on charges of obstructing a public way.
The crowd had mostly dispersed by 5:15 p.m., when a handful of police vehicles — and one marked as belonging to the Department of Homeland Security — were still parked along Pearl Street with their lights flashing.
The Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office has not yet received information from police to file charges, a spokesperson said Thursday morning. Protesters say they were released from jail around 10 p.m. Wednesday on a $500 unsecured bail.
Jamila Levasseur, 70, of Waldo, said she’ll be arrested as many times as she needs to until there is peace in Gaza. She and 65-year-old Abigail Fuller, of Portland, had previously been arrested at a February 2024 protest on Franklin Street.
The charges against them from the February protest have since been dropped, said their attorney, Leonard Sharon, who represented the 11 defendants when they rejected a plea deal in March 2024 before their case was ultimately dismissed.
He said he would be proud to represent the protesters again, as he has for others in the Maine Coalition for Palestine. He said he can’t recall anyone who has been convicted of charges related to demonstrations like this in Maine, but added that he and Levasseur are planning to prepare for any necessary legal action.
Levasseur said it was “beautiful and encouraging” to see the large, diverse group and positive community response, with people waving or honking in their cars as they passed.
Fuller, who is also a lecturer at the University of Southern Maine, said the group wanted their act of civil disobedience to make a statement. Though it is anxiety-inducing to be arrested, she said, it’s empowering to be surrounded by like-minded people who are concerned about widespread starvation and bombing in Gaza.
“We did this to demonstrate our commitment to the public, to bring the attention to our political leaders who have failed to institute any policy changes,” Fuller said.
Patricia Corkins, 61, of Pembroke, said she was arrested for the first time at Wednesday’s protest. She and coalition member Erin Kiley are participating in a hunger strike with at least 25 others who will fast or consume only 250 calories per day in solidarity with people in Gaza.
“Seeing Palestine supporters put their bodies on the line … was really inspiring because it was a reminder that those of us who have been fighting for Palestine are not alone,” Kiley said.
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