A loud, sizable pro-Palestinian protest has taken up residence outside of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s house.
Protesters are lining Chain Bridge Road in Arlington, near the McLean border, in front of the house. They’re holding signs with messages like “Full Ceasefire in Gaza Now” and chanting slogans, including calling Blinken a “war criminal.” They’ve also erected several tents.
(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) A group of about 15 protesters are waving Palestinian flags and holding signs in Rosslyn.
The late afternoon protest is taking place at the busy intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Lynn Street, in front of the Raytheon headquarters at 1100 Wilson Blvd.
Protests have been targeting the Arlington offices of military contractors amid the Israel-Hamas war.
At least the second protest in as many days was being held outside of the Lockheed Martin building at 2121 Crystal Drive today. The midday protest featured about ten demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags, holding signs and conducting a “die-in” on the public sidewalk.
A climate change protest temporarily shut down a Rosslyn bank this morning.
The relatively small demonstration drew a handful of older protests and a few of grad-school age to the Wells Fargo at 1500 Wilson Blvd.
The northbound lanes of the GW Parkway are blocked near Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington due to a protest.
Climate protesters associated with the group Declare Emergency blocked the busy commuter route shortly before 8:45 a.m.
(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) A march against drugs drew a large crowd of parents and community members to Wakefield High School, where a student died this week.
Sergio Flores was found unconscious in the bathroom Tuesday morning and rushed to the hospital in critical condition. He died Thursday and his death is being investigated as a possible overdose.
(Updated at 9:55 p.m. on 2/3/23) A coalition of parents will be marching on Friday at Wakefield High School to encourage students not to use drugs and to demand a countywide response to in-school opioid use.
The planned silent demonstration responds to an apparent drug overdose on school grounds discovered yesterday morning (Tuesday). An unconscious student was found in a boys bathroom and taken to the hospital in critical condition. Medics evaluated four additional kids at the school and students were released early so police could conduct an investigation.
Groups of Arlington Public Schools students walked out today (Tuesday) to protest model policies the Commonwealth says local school boards should adopt regarding the treatment of transgender children.
Released last week, the draft policies from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), among other things, direct schools only to affirm a transgender student’s identity if parents request it. The document is perceived as a rebuttal to last year’s Democratic-led policies, which advised schools to affirm the child’s gender expression regardless of their family’s support.
(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) The Arlington County Board today called for action to stem the tide of gun violence, while groups of students around the county held walkouts in response to the elementary school shooting in Texas.
The Board condemned gun violence and urged state legislators to tighten gun control in a statement issued this afternoon.
Metro Delays Due to Safety Snafu — “Metro’s Chief Safety Officer reports that nearly half of Metro’s 500 rail operators have lapsed recertification… In consultation with the Board of Directors, Metro management is taking immediate corrective action to remove from service 72 train operators who became out of compliance prior to May 2021. This will result in a temporary reduction in Green and Yellow line service from every 15 minutes to every 20 minutes due to an operator shortage.” [WMATA]
APS Changes Bell Schedules — “The School Board in Arlington, Virginia, voted to lengthen the school day by a little less than 10 minutes and to rearrange school start and end times in the first change to the county school system’s bell schedule in more than two decades. At its Thursday meeting, the board unanimously voted in favor of the adjustments.” [WTOP]
(Updated at 11:20 a.m.) A progressive group says an Amazon- and county-funded plan to keep the Barcroft Apartments affordable will actually displace low-income residents.
The more than $300 million purchase of the 60-acre, 1,334-unit complex along Columbia Pike will take what are currently aging but affordable market-rate apartments and renovate or reconstruct them, while converting them to dedicated affordable units.
High school students across Arlington staged walkouts Monday afternoon and rallied to demand measures to codify Roe v. Wade.
After a Supreme Court draft opinion to overturn the 1973 decision that protects abortion access leaked last week, youth-led student group Generation Ratify Virginia helped organize walkouts across the state. In Arlington, Washington-Liberty, Arlington Tech and Wakefield High students left their schools and rallied to discuss the implications if the ruling is overturned.
