Pro-Palestinian Protesters Block Pratt & Whitney's Middletown Plant

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Pratt & Whitney workers coming and going for the overnight and day shifts were blocked by a pro-Palestinian protesters outside the Middletown plant early Monday morning.

Police arrived at the scene at 5:37 a.m. and found folks chaining themselves together and blocking the entrance to the Pratt facility on Aircraft Road. A number of people were sitting in the road with their arms interlocked inside tubes, police said.

There were also additional pedestrians standing in the roadway chanting, filming and monitoring the organized protest against the war in Gaza, police said.

The protesters had also placed a vehicle across the road, which was blocking part of Aircraft Road. Based on their placement in the roadway, Pratt employees were prohibited from leaving or entering the campus, police said.

Pratt employee Dave Compositor said the staff became aware of the situation at about 5:30 a.m. He said he finished his shift at 6 a.m. and was stuck in traffic waiting to exit the complex for two hours.

Compositor said the experience reminded him of Vietnam War-Era protests.

"It was a full-blown protest," he said. "We were being called war mongers and accused of building weapons of mass-destruction. It was peaceful, but was also crazy."

The protest prompted a heavy police presence. Police from the state police Troop F barracks, Meriden, Cromwell and Berlin also arrived at the scene.

Police said the vehicle blocking the roadway was quickly removed without incident.

"Officers made every effort to convince the protesters to leave the roadway and avoid arrest but negotiations were unsuccessful. After multiple warnings that an arrest was imminent, the protesters indicated they were not leaving," police said.

The decision was then made to arrest anyone obstructing vehicular traffic, police said.

A South District fire crew assisted officers with the removal removal of each protester from the tubes without incident or injury.

After the parties were arrested and removed, officers began opening the road, but one woman began obstructing traffic and was arrested, police said.

In all, 10 were charged with disorderly conduct for obstructing vehicular traffic into and out of Pratt & Whitney, police said.

Aircraft Road was fully opened to traffic at approximately 8 a.m.