Angry father who saw himself confronting pro-Palestinian protesters blocking the Williamsburg Bridge as he desperately tried to get home to his daughter is speaking out after going viral.
The driver was trapped on the Williamsburg Bridge and lost patience as masked protesters stood in front of his Honda SUV and refused to let him pass.
On Thursday, he posted a 90-second video on
“I was on my way home and wanted nothing more than to be where I needed to be,” he said.
He said he regretted how he performed in public and that it had been “a little difficult to deal with the additional exposure,” but he was not happy with being kept away from his family.
Angry father who saw himself confronting pro-Palestinian protesters blocking the Williamsburg Bridge as he desperately tried to get home to his daughter is speaking out after going viral
“I wish I hadn't been caught on video in such an angry state and couldn't have behaved like that, but I couldn't let these people impede my passage and essentially hold me hostage.”
Rivera said there have been “some unkind comments” toward him, but he is “even more grateful for those who have been kind throughout all of this.”
He also made it clear how blessed he is to be an American, adding that he supports the protest in the right way.
“I say this because as citizens of this country we have the right to protest peacefully as long as we do not break the law, for example by disrupting traffic on the streets,” he said. “I wish I didn’t have to resort to the actions I did, but I needed to go home.”
He did not take sides in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, but hoped for more peaceful times in the future.
“It saddens me to see the things that are happening in this world we live in and I pray that there is a real change for global peace,” he said.
New York was besieged by hundreds of protesters on Monday, blocking all major vehicle routes in and out of the city for more than an hour – leading to 325 arrests across the Big Apple.
The coordinated action struck the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge and Holland Tunnel, stopping traffic from Manhattan.
On Thursday, he posted a 90-second video on
The angry father managed to push through pro-Palestinian protesters and reach his daughter across the Williamsburg Bridge
WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE: New York's Manhattan borough's four major thoroughfares are still closed as of 11 a.m., creating a traffic jam downtown to the dismay of angry commuters
WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE: Protesters used a similar tactic across the city to cause traffic chaos by lining up in a single line across the entrance
The man pushed three male protesters who were standing directly in front of his car, then got back into his car and slowly drove toward them until they let him get away
First he shouted at a woman in a high-visibility vest who appeared to be organizing the obstruction as she appeared to be trying to calm him down.
“You're disrupting traffic, you idiots.” “You can't do that, it's against the law,” he shouted, then gave up and got out of the car to confront her directly.
“I need to start throwing my fists at you guys, I'm not going to run you over… get away from my car.”
The man pushed three male protesters who were standing directly in front of his car and pushed one of them a second time as he returned to his seat.
The highly visible woman tried to defuse the situation when the man stopped pushing and yelled, “Get away from my car, I have a daughter in Brooklyn.”
Officers rounded up the handcuffed protesters and lined them up before loading them onto an MTA bus for processing
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: Protesters blocked the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan this morning – as they called to “lift the siege on Gaza”
The Brooklyn Bridge, which connects downtown Manhattan to Dumbo in Brooklyn, is flooded with police detaining protesters on Monday
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: Three protesters wearing face coverings are led off the bridge Monday afternoon
Perhaps egged on by bystanders urging him to run over the protesters, he got back behind the wheel and began to drive slowly forward.
“Get out of the way, I have to go home,” he shouted out the window as he walked towards the masked group.
The protesters stood until it was clear he wasn't going to stop and he could walk past them and continue on his way.
Police finally began to disengage pro-Palestinian protesters at the Brooklyn Bridge, who had strapped their arms together with metal pipes, concrete and tires in their latest attempt to call for a ceasefire in Israel's invasion of Gaza.
Officers rounded up the handcuffed protesters and lined them up before loading them onto an MTA bus for processing.
NYPD Chief John Chell said 325 people were arrested Monday after they blocked the bridges around 9:40 a.m. until they were cleared at 11:15 a.m.
“Instead of a citation, many protesters are given a misdemeanor charge with a ticket to appear,” he said.
NOW: Arrested Brooklyn Bridge protesters chant “Get out of Syria, get out of Iraq, get out of Palestine, don't come back” as they wait to be moved. pic.twitter.com/y74AQ4Y29G
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) January 8, 2024
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: A woman screams as three NYPD officers handcuff her
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: NYPD officers at the Brooklyn Bridge began trying to separate disruptive pro-Palestinian protesters who appeared to have pinned their arms together and were using metal pipes, concrete and duct tape to form a human barricade
A sign at the Holland Tunnel toward New Jersey, where traffic came to a standstill around 10 a.m., read: “Lift the siege on Gaza. Ceasefire now.”
Groups of about 85 protesters sat at the entrance to the tunnel with Palestinian flags, chanting and cheering, while one person shouted through a megaphone.
They shouted in unison: “Free, free Palestine.” Stop the Zionist occupation.'
Port Authority police stood idly and watched as the number of protesters at the Holland Tunnel — many wearing face coverings, scarves and hoods — grew to more than 100.
Swarms of beeping vehicles could be heard at the Manhattan Bridge as protesters took up positions and formed a human chain across the entrance to the city.
Once they were locked in a line, another group of protesters formed behind them, holding up large signs and shouting, “Stop it!”
At the Brooklyn Bridge, about 40 protesters sat cross-legged in the middle of the street as heavy traffic was blocked from entering shortly after the peak of rush hour.
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: A protester refuses to stand, even when handcuffed
HOLLAND TUNNEL: Groups of about 85 protesters sat at the entrance to the tunnel with Palestinian flags, chanting and cheering while one person shouted through a megaphone
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: A wall of protesters chain chairs and cones together
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: Protesters, all wearing face coverings and scarves, are handcuffed
In addition to the protesters on the concrete, dozens of other pro-Palestinian supporters lined the bridge's sidewalk — which is usually packed with tourists crossing from Dumbo to the financial district.
Videos showed some of the disruptive protesters being taken away in handcuffs as the police presence escalated.
At the Williamsburg Bridge, protesters used similar tactics to cause traffic chaos by lining up across the entrance.
The four major thoroughfares in New York's Manhattan borough are still closed as of 11 a.m., creating a traffic jam downtown to the dismay of angry commuters.
Pro-Palestinian protesters close the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the main bridges between Manhattan and Brooklyn
Members of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit use chainsaws to try to separate pro-Palestinian protesters blocking a Brooklyn Bridge street during a “Shut it Down for Palestine” rally
The group, which calls for a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Gaza, joined other protesters in briefly stopping traffic at numerous bridges in New York City
MANHATTAN BRIDGE: Swarms of beeping vehicles could be heard along the Manhattan Bridge as protesters took up positions and formed a human chain across the approach path
HOLLAND TUNNEL: Port Authority police stood idly by and watched as the number of protesters at the Holland Tunnel – many of them wearing face coverings, scarves and hoods – grew to more than 100
MANHATTAN BRIDGE: On the Manhattan Bridge, pro-Palestine demonstrators blocked traffic with their bodies
MANHATTAN BRIDGE: Motorists were forced to stop and angrily got out of their cars when they were flagged down by the protesters in front of them
Canal Street in downtown Manhattan was brought to a standstill by crowded traffic caused by disruption from protesters.
An MTA bus full of arrested protesters was stopped in a traffic jam.
The NYPD confirmed to that it had moved to “level three” police mobilization to address the protests.
Mobilization level three is the second highest alert level in the NYPD, meaning all special forces are called into action and patrol cars are dispatched from every command center in the city.
Last month, New York City saw ugly scenes between pro-Palestinian protesters and NYPD officers, while Christmas Day was marred by anti-Israel demonstrations in several US cities.