As a handful of people gathered at the gate of Naval Air Station North Island to welcome home sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, police officers confirmed just after 1 p.m. on Oct. 8 that the main gate was closed due to the discovery of “suspicious items” near the main exit.
According to protestors outside the gate, the items were theirs.
Four demonstrators – calling for a “free Palestine” and holding cardboard signs – said they made fake burial shrouds out of white sheets, filling them with cotton and paper to represent the dead children in Gaza.
The stuffed shrouds, about two feet long, were placed on the grass just outside the exit gate.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve used them,” said Anthony B., one of the protestors. He declined to reveal his last name. “We tried to make the visual impact by having these.”
According to Coronado Police Department Public Affairs Officer Ryan Brennan, Coronado Police and Fire personnel assisted in securing the area while Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) personnel evaluated the items.
At around 3 p.m., Navy EOD “determined that the items were not explosive and did not pose a threat.”
The exit at the main gate remained closed during the situation and sailors from the Lincoln who had family members parked in the visitors lot were not allowed to enter their cars and leave for almost two hours.
Anthony B. said officers initially asked demonstrators to remove the white bags, but moments later told them to leave the area without the bags.
“(The police officers) escalated it very quickly and I was trying to grab them all very fast, and then they started shouting,” Anthony said.
