OLYMPIA, Wash – On Jan. 6, the Washington State Patrol was caught off guard when a group calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war shut down the northbound lanes of I5 in the heart of Seattle for nearly five hours on a Saturday afternoon.

It was estimated that the protest caused traffic to back up for 6 miles. Washington State Senator Drew MacEwen, R-35th believes the State Patrol did not have the political backing it needed to disperse the crowd.

“Those people who blocked the highway and shut it down for hours on end, infringed on other people’s rights. And they don’t have the right to do that,” MacEwen said.

MacEwen has sponsored SB 6160, a bill related to penalties for unlawfully obstructing traffic.

Under current statute, when a group of three or more people refuse to disperse when instructed by law enforcement, it is a misdemeanor. MacEwen’s bill makes it a Class C felony if they fail to disperse from a public roadway when instructed to do so.

“Every person has the right to peacefully protest on whatever issue they feel passionately about, but they do not have the right to infringe on other’s rights, including the ability to travel freely,” MacEwen said. “What if there was an ambulance with a patient needing critical hospital care that was held up? Or a working mom or dad needing to pick up a child from daycare, who just burned a tank of gas sitting on the highway. There’s a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck who needed to get to their job that day.”

Senators Nikki Torres, R-15th, Jeff Wilson, R-19th, and Lynda Wilson, R-17th have all signed on as co-sponsors.

“It’s time to restore law and order. People have had enough. If you want to protest, do it appropriately and do it in a manner that doesn’t infringe on other people’s rights,” MacEwen said. “I’m here to speak up for the state’s citizens who have had enough with a complete disregard for public safety and law enforcement.”

MacEwen’s bill, introduced on Jan. 11, has been referred to the Law and Justice Committee.

A similar bill in the House, HB 2358, was sponsored by House Representative Andrew Barkis, R-2nd. The soon-to-be companion bill has 35 cosponsors and looks to increase penalties for obstructing highways, create felony charges for endangering public safety, and create mandatory minimums for repeat offenders.

“First and foremost, law enforcement needs to arrest the folks that are doing this. These are not peaceful protests. The problem in this instance was the State Patrol was the lead agency, and the State Patrol ultimately answers to the governor,” MacEwen said. “This administration tends to look the other way when there are far-left protests. I think there is some fear from the governor that there could be major political blowback if law enforcement were allowed to do their job. What about the rights of the other 8 million people in the state?  We need to be an orderly society. Let’s enforce the law.”