San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins charged 26 anti-Israel protesters for their role in blockading traffic along the Golden Gate Bridge.
For more than four hours, drivers were trapped on the bridge, causing a serious safety hazard. Among those drivers was a surgeon who had to cancel his surgeries for the rest of the day and a mother who didn’t have access to food or water for her baby.
Eight people were charged with felony conspiracy, and 18 were charged with misdemeanor conspiracy.
Between the 26 people, they face an additional laundry list of charges, including false imprisonment, trespassing to interfere with business, obstruction of a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, refusal to disperse at a riot, and failure to obey the lawful order of a uniformed officer.
Those charged have until Monday to surrender themselves to authorities.
“While we must protect avenues for free speech, the exercise of free speech cannot compromise public safety,” Jenkins said. “The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge caused a level of safety risk, including extreme threats to the health and welfare of those trapped, that we as a society cannot ignore or allow.”
The protest occurred at 8 a.m. on April 15. It was part of a nationwide protest led by A15 Action in an effort to show “solidarity with Palestine.”
There were 20 locations selected, including Chicago, with the intention to “blockade major choke points in the economy, focusing on points of production and circulation with the aim of causing the most economic impact.”
California Highway Patrol Chief Don Goodbrand thanked Jenkins’s office for its efforts.
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“The California Highway Patrol recognizes and supports everyone’s First Amendment right to protest and assemble, but that right does not extend to blocking roadways and preventing the free movement of others,” he said.
Protesters in Chicago also face charges for obstructing traffic at Chicago O’Hare International Airport for their efforts in the nationwide protest.