Anti-war protesters have demonstrated in Chicago nearly every day since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people. Israeli warplanes and ground troops have since conducted a military campaign in Gaza. That offensive has killed more than 33,700 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but claims women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
O’Hare airport warned travellers on X, formerly known as Twitter, to take alternative forms of transport with car travel “substantially delayed this morning due to protest activity”.
Some travellers stuck in traffic left their cars and walked the final leg to the airport along the freeway, trailing their luggage behind them.
Among them was Madeline Hannan from suburban Chicago. She was headed to O’Hare for a work trip to Florida when her and her husband’s car ended up stalled for 20 minutes. They both got out and “ran and speed walked” more than a mile. She said she only just made it to the gate on time.
“This was an inconvenience,” she said. “But in the grand scheme of things going on overseas, it’s a minor inconvenience.”
While individual travellers may have been affected, operations at the airport appeared near normal with delays of under 15 minutes, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Inbound traffic toward O’Hare resumed at around 9 am.
Dozens of protesters were arrested in Chicago, according to protest organisers. Chicago police said that “multiple people” were taken into custody after a protest where people obstructed traffic, but they did not have a detailed count.
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