Activist groups sued for blocking traffic at Chicago's O'Hare airport

A man who missed his flight and a work appointment because of an anti-Israel protest at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago has filed suit against organizations and leaders behind the demonstration.

Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute (HLLI), a public-interest law firm that describes its mission as “dedicated to battling the progressive left’s agenda,” submitted the class action lawsuit on Monday on behalf of Christopher Manhart and others impacted by the April 15 activist disruption, which blocked traffic for three hours.

HLLI attorney Theodore H. Frank said, “we support the right to protest, but a premeditated attack that injures innocents is not protected by the First Amendment.”

Defendants in the suit include the groups Jewish Voice for Peace, the Tides Center and its Community Justice Exchange, National Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine, AJP Education Foundation, Inc., WESPAC Foundation, Dissenters and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.

The disruption at O’Hare came as part of a nationwide effort called “A15 Action,” which on the same day also targeted the Golden Gate Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge and Seattle-Tacoma Airport.

Frank said that “by holding the disrupters and their organizational sponsors civilly accountable, we hope to curtail foreign-sponsored and antisemitic actions that harm innocent Americans and put them at risk.”