Police have arrested two 25-year-old men who they say barged into a Westport temple to protest a meeting with the Israeli Defense Force on Tuesday afternoon and had to be physically restrained by temple staff.
The incident prompted lockdowns at several nearby schools, including Coleytown Middle School, Coleytown Elementary School, Unitarian Church preschool and the nursery at Temple Israel, police said.
According to police, Daniel Fisher and Gregory Williams, New Haven residents who identified themselves as college students, interrupted the meeting at Temple Israel at 14 Coleytown Road around 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Temple staff told them to leave the building and had to physically block them from entering the meeting area, police said. Fisher and Williams shouted statements about the IDF during the encounter.
Staff held down the two protesters in a second-floor meeting room, where officers found them and took them into custody, according to police.
Police said the protesters "created enough concern to the attendees that several people had exited the premises in fear for their safety." Schools also issued lockdowns while police responded to the scene.
Although one witness told police a protester appeared to have a gun, police said it turned out to a shirt draped over the man's arm.
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Fisher and Williams were each charged with first-degree criminal trespass and second-degree breach of peace. Their bonds were set at $1,500 apiece and both men are due in court May 21.
