About 16 protesters blocked the main entrance to Ametek Rotron to protest the company’s manufacture of parts for the defense industry. A banner implies doing so contributes to a genocide in Gaza. They have been there since about 6 am.
After several hours, about a dozen protesters on the Hasbrouck end near Delisio Lane agreed to move to the intersection of Route 375. About four remained with their arms locked together inside a concrete pipe, blocking the main employee entrance. An equal number of protesters assembled at Ametek’s visitor entrance with some blocking passage.
Hasbrouck Lane loops around and intersects with Route 375 near Delisio Lane and Maverick Road. The end near Delisio is the main employee entrance.
Woodstock Supervisor Bill McKenna, who was on scene for much of the day, said people have the right to protest, but they’re disrupting a private business.
“They’re on private property, and they’re interrupting a business. There’s 300 people that are trying to make a living,” McKenna said.
McKenna said the protesters blocked the Rescue Squad ambulance from entering the complex early this morning and finally agreed to let them proceed. Ametek funds the staffing and maintenance of the daytime ambulance crew on its premises.
“The ambulance, keep in mind, it’s got medicines. It needs to be on charger. You can’t just park it. And so there was some frustration. The ambulance did go in there, but as supervisor, I can tell you, one of the things I shared with them is my great concern that the ambulance is stuck in there and somebody needs it. And even a minute or two delay could be someone’s life.”
The Rescue Squad’s second ambulance arrived on the scene and parked on Route 375 on standby, as well as an Empress ambulance.
The situation got more tense and a sheriff’s sergeant asked members of the media to step back “in case this goes the way we don’t want it to go.”
Shortly before 2 p.m., more state troopers arrived with zip ties, getting ready to arrest those who were blocking the entrance.
Soon after, a couple vans with dark tinted windows arrived along with a truck and trailer containing tactical equipment.
At the corner, the dozen protesters chanted, “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever” and “End the occupation now.”
One man across the street yelled at then and yelled obscenities, then was asked to stop by a sheriff’s deputy trying to keep the peace, who said “they’ve already made their bed.”
The State Police Mobile Field Unit took over and cut the concrete pipe with an angle grinder to free the four protesters. Troopers and Woodstock police stood by at the scene.
The protesters at the corner shouted, “We are watching” and “We love you.” As the angle grinder noise could be heard, the corner protesters shouted “Are you okay” and “Stop hurting them.”
Verbal altercations between the corner protesters and bystanders intensified, with one protester saying, “Kill 40,000 people and tell me ‘Free Israel.’”
Just after 3:15 p.m., the four protesters were transported away from the scene. Another group was arrested at the other entrance for 7 total. Woodstock Police Chief Clayton Keefe said all were taken to the State Police barracks in the town of Ulster. McKenna said he believes everyone arrested was charged with trespassing and released on court appearance tickets.
Pete Halleck, whose mother often protested against Ametek’s practices, went to talk to the protesters, but was turned away by police.
“I was trying to support support them but I am not spending my afternoon in detention,” Halleck said.
“They’re not allowing people to join that group.”
The protesters on the corner would not provide their names or disclose much of any information, but one said Ametek Rotron supplied blowers used in weapons deployed by the Israeli Defense Forces.
The group is not affiliated with any larger organization, but independently decided to protest. They are largely from Ulster County and the immediate area, some from Hudson and other reaches of Columbia County.
McKenna complimented the law enforcement personnel who were on the scene and the way they worked with each other and handled the protesters. At no moment did it appear that any police officer had weapons drawn. They seemed to be engaging in ongoing dialogue, a point echoed by the supervisor.
“Everybody was courteous and polite. They all had a good rapport with the protesters. They all were given an opportunity to exercise their first amendment,” McKenna said.
Some of a group of bystanders on Route 375 yelled at the protesters for interrupting the children’s day at Woodstock Elementary School by forcing the road to be closed and not allowing students to leave.
Onteora Superintendent Victoria McLaren, however, said the school was never placed on lockdown. School buses were seen en route to the school for pickup.
“We did not implement a lockdown today, but the Woodstock Elementary students did not go outside for recess. Our school resource officer was stationed at the school during the day in order to ensure that everyone felt safe,” McLaren said when reached by email in the late afternoon on May 7.
“Parents received a communication directly from our principal regarding the situation. We also canceled our after-school activities at Bennett Elementary due to the impact on our buses because of the traffic, not because of safety concerns.”
Throughout the day, about 15-20 law enforcement personnel from New York State Police, Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and Woodstock Police were lined up alongside Hasbrouck Lane.
A man seeking signatures for Jill Stein for president was turned away by Woodstock Police Chief Clayton Keefe.
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