Golden Gate Bridge protesters turn themselves in, 8 face felony charges

SAN FRANCISCO - More than two dozen demonstrators from the Golden Gate Bridge protest in April turned themselves in to law enforcement on Monday morning. Some of the protesters are now facing felony charges. 

More than 150 people gathered outside the San Francisco jail this morning to rally in support of the protesters who created a blockade on the bridge because they wanted to amplify their message to ‘Free Palestine.’ 

The protesters face a wide range of charges, from felony conspiracy, to trespassing and false imprisonment.

The San Francisco District Attorney's Office announced the charges and arrest warrants over the weekend. And on Monday, 26 protesters turned themselves in. The D.A. said the protesters went beyond free speech. 

At the rally, there was drumming, chanting and plenty of signs and flags outside San Francisco County Jail. 

Jeff Wozniak, the protesters' attorney from the National Lawyers Guild, said most of his clients would be cited and released, "but that requires them to sit in jail for 10-12 hours. These are all people that had no record," he said. "There was no requirement it had to go like this." He said in most cases, people charged with misdemeanor crimes don't have arrest warrants issued for them and don't have to turn themselves into a jail but simply show up to court when given a date. 

The charges stem from an April 15 protest on the Golden Gate Bridge against the war in Gaza and U.S. military support for Israel. The protesters chained themselves to cars and each other.

The California Highway Patrol estimated that 20,000 drivers were trapped for about five hours. Investigators spoke with more than 100 people who were caught up in the protest and found three dozen who were seriously affected by being held up for hours. 

In the charging documents, the DA's office lists those drivers as victims - at least one driver missed surgery to remove a brain tumor, and another driver ran out of water for her baby's infant formula.

"They were held against their will at the mercy of the 26 people involved in this event," DA Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. In another instance, Jenkins described a child with cerebral palsy who was stuck on a school bus for over four hours. 

Rally organizers including Wassim Hage of the Arab Resource Organizing Center, meanwhile, called the DA's charges inflated and demanded they be dropped. 

"This is an act of civil disobedience," Hage said. "Road blockages, inconveniences, mass public demonstrations have been used throughout U.S. history during the Civil Rights movement, by people fighting against the Vietnam War, by people fighting against Apartheid - all noble causes."

At this morning's rally one supporter of the protesters, who only gave the name, Bridgett, said, "Four hours stuck in traffic is tough. 7,450 hours of these depraved genocide is criminal, evil and intolerable," she said.  

Eight of the 26 protesters face felony charges of conspiring to commit a misdemeanor - planning and coordinating the demonstration. They'll have to post $75,000 in bail. 

Wozniak said issuing arrest warrants for non-violent actions like a protest is unusual. He said the DA didn't do that with people involved in other previous demonstrations. 

"This is dramatically more than any other case," Wozniak said. "What's the difference? Why are they being treated differently from the Bay Bridge case?"

Associate Public Defender Nuha Abusamra said some of those arrested will be defended by the public defender's office. She said the D.A. is sending a message that these charges, and that the case against the protesters could impact how people express their first amendment rights. 

"She is taking a stance that is essentially sending a message to people that your freedom of speech, your rights to free speech, are in danger," said Abusamra.

"We have filed conspiracy charges for the planning and orchestration of this demonstration," said Jenkins. "False imprisonment for those who were kept and basically held hostage on that bridge."

Some protesters were cited and released, but those eight facing felony charges are due back in court on Tuesday to be formally charged and enter their plea of guilty or not guilty.

 

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