UPDATE: 'An act of hope': Biden says thriving Lehigh Valley businesses validate economic reforms
HANOVER TWP., Pa. - President Joe Biden arrived in the Lehigh Valley on Friday afternoon and almost immediately was on the move.
Air Force One touched down at Lehigh Valley International Airport shortly after 1 p.m.
Biden stepped off the plane and was followed by U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, before they were greeted on the tarmac by a number of political leaders, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk.
Biden is visiting the Lehigh Valley to highlight his administration’s economic policies and visit an unspecified number of small businesses in the Allentown area.
First stop: Emmaus
The president traveled by motorcade to visit with local business owners. His first stop was in Emmaus, where the motorcade arrived shortly before 2 p.m. and where restrictions have been in place since Friday morning.
Biden went in the Emmaus Run Inn, a running shoe store at 322 Main St. He was greeted by owners Sean and Nicole Linehan.
"When are you opening a store in Delaware?" Biden asked.
Folks crowded to catch a glimpse of the motorcade and president. They included people of different stripes — Biden supporters, Trump supporters and a group of pro-Palestinian protesters.
Longtime activist Carol Baylor, of Bethlehem, joined the group urging Biden to call for a cease-fire to the war in the Middle East.
“We want to stress to Joe Biden we do not approve of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians,” said Baylor, a member of Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern.
Accompanying Biden on Main Street in Emmaus were Shapiro, Wild, Casey, Administrator Isabel Guzman of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Lauren and Juan Vargas, co-owners of the Nowhere Coffee Co. in Emmaus, according to a pool report.
Biden also went into South Mountain Cycle, owned by Emmaus Borough Councilman Chad Balliet and his wife Heather. He also visited Nowhere Coffee Co. in the same building as the cycling shop. The Vargases opened the coffee company in Emmaus in 2022, about six months after they opened their first location in South Whitehall Township.
"Anybody want a coffee? It's on me," the president said.
Biden took selfies with people at the coffee company and paid for a smoothie in cash, according to the pool report. He made his way around the cafe and chatted with about a dozen people — some of them local business owners — seated at tables.
Next stop: Allentown Fire Training Academy
Biden spent more than two hours in Emmaus before the motorcade was on the move to Allentown.
Just before 4:15 p.m., the motorcade pulled in to the Mack South Fire Station and Allentown Fire Training Academy, a training center off Lehigh Street that was upgraded with more than $2 million in American Rescue Plan funds.
Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters started demonstrating before Air Force One even landed at LVIA. They lined Lehigh Street chanting for "Peace right now” and accusing Biden of genocide.
“He should see protests everywhere he goes."Cory Fischer-Hoffman, Jewish Voices for Peace
Cory Fischer-Hoffman, of Jewish Voices for Peace, said protesters were demanding Biden push for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.
They braved the chilly weather Friday afternoon to make “a decisive statement to President Biden (so) that he knows that the Lehigh Valley stands against genocide of Palestinians,” Fischer-Hoffman said.
“He should see protests everywhere he goes,” she said.
The early crowd of dozens swelled to about 250 people at its peak, despite the protest being organized at the “last minute,” according to Mubashar Mughal, an organizer with My Lehigh Valley Youth Organization.
Mughal said “police were cool with” protesters for several hours until a squad of Allentown police officers equipped with batons and helmets lined Lehigh Street in front of them ahead of Biden’s arrival.
“All of a sudden, they got out and the entire environment changed,” he said.
That police presence was “not needed,” Mughal said, criticizing the decision to shield Biden’s motorcade from the protest as it arrived at the Allentown Fire Academy.
The protest — and riot squad — only broke up after Biden’s motorcade left the Allentown Fire Academy for the airport, about five hours after it first started.
Several protestors yelled “Shame” at officers as they returned to a LANTA bus. “You’re supposed to be protecting us, not intimidating us,” one told officers.
Lehigh Street was reopened within minutes of Biden’s departure, but traffic was backed up throughout the area for quite some time.
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