CLEVELAND — Despite a warning from Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin at the beginning the meeting, chaos continued in Council chambers Monday night.
"Such disruptions may constitute a misdemeanor and a violation of Section 605.04," Griffin said, referring to the protests that have taken place at City Hall for months.
The group of Palestine supporters and allies say they are now in their 12th week of attending City Council meetings, where they have been calling for legislators to pass a ceasefire resolution amid the Israel-Hamas War.
"Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Seattle, Oakland, Dearborn, Minneapolis, Albany, Providence, St. Louis, and San Francisco passed resolutions," one person said during public comment. "In Ohio, Akron and Dayton passed resolutions. What makes Cleveland different?"
Some members of the local Jewish community echoed the demand during public comment.
"Resist the false narrative that says you must pick a side and that to call for ceasefire is to care only about Palestinians," Rabbi Miriam Geronimus with Cleveland Jewish Collective stated. "Pass the ceasefire resolution. Choose life."
The group once again interrupted the meeting, chanting as they exited Council chambers and continuing to the lobby of City Hall. You could hear the chant of "Pass the resolution now!" as the meeting continued.
Last week, Griffin announced new rules regarding disruptions and said law enforcement would remove anyone who violates the rules, but that hasn't happened yet. The Council president told 3News Monday he is still calling on both sides to come together to recommend neutral wording for a resolution, adding that when that happens he would discuss a resolution with the rest of Council.
"We would hope that both sides would spend time talking with each other and give us something that they believe can be neutrally worded to condemn the acts of violence towards innocent people," Griffin said. "What is happening to the citizens in the Gaza Strip is deplorable. What happened to those Israel citizens by Hamas, deplorable. I can say that unequivocally."
Griffin says Council respects people's right to protest, but stricter rules could be on the horizon if the public doesn't cooperate.
"Council could suspend public comment, especially on this topic," he noted. "Philadelphia suspended public comment on this topic. Council doesn't have to do public comment; Council could actually go to virtual meetings, if we need to."