Edited release
10/15/25
Attorney General Brenna Bird led a 12-state coalition in a brief stating people trapped in gridlock traffic by pro-Hamas protestors who blocked the highway leading to Chicago’s O’Hare airport should be allowed to continue their lawsuit.
On April 15, 2024, in Chicago, protesters blocked lanes of Interstate 190 leading into O’Hare International Airport. A plaintiff sued the organizers for damages, alleging that they illegally confined the thousands of people in hours of traffic—with no escape.
The district court dismissed the claims, even while acknowledging that the organizational and individual defendants were trying to “inflict pain” on Chicagoans.
In a release from her office, Attorney General Bird said, “A right to protest does not mean a right to block an interstate, blockade an airport, stop hardworking people from getting to work, or risk lives by stopping ambulances… the pro-terrorism protestors broke the law and should be held accountable in court.”
Bird also announced she led an 18-state coalition challenging a Minnesota state law that mandates allowing men to participate in women’s sports. In that release, Bird said, “It’s simple, women’s sports are for women, and men’s sports are for men. Mandating that men be allowed to participate in women’s sports strips women of their rights and blatantly disregards Title IX which guarantees those rights.”
Link to the protester brief:
Link to the women’s sports suit: