Felony charges against protesters who blocked traffic on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge during a 2024 anti-Israel demonstration have been dropped, following a two-and-a-half-week trial that ended with jurors deadlocking.
The protesters were among 26 people charged by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins following the April 15, 2024, demonstration. The protest was part of a nationwide action organized by A15 Action, which targeted major economic “choke points” in an effort to show “solidarity with Palestine.”
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Eight of the protesters were initially charged with felony conspiracy, while 18 faced misdemeanor conspiracy charges. The group also faced numerous other charges, including false imprisonment, trespassing to interfere with business, obstruction of a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, refusing to disperse during a riot, and failure to obey the lawful order of a uniformed officer.
After the trial, jurors deadlocked in June on the most serious charges but convicted the protesters on several misdemeanors, including obstructing a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, and four counts of false imprisonment related to commuters who were trapped on the bridge.
Seven protesters received 30-day jail sentences and $1,000 fines.
Most of the other defendants were offered diversion, which included fines and community service. Jordan Harger, one of the 19 defendants who received diversion, said the outcome was a relief after the group had feared another trial.
“We were absolutely worried there’d be a new trial,” Harger said. “Brooke Jenkins has made harsh choices throughout this process.”
Despite the felony charges being dropped, Harger called the jail sentences handed down to the seven protesters “devastating.”
Harger said the 26 original defendants spent four days in jail following their arrests, which convinced them that San Francisco jails were unsafe.
“It is not possible to call anything that’s transpired justice,” Harger said. “This entire case has been punitive due to the substance of our speech and the focus of our protest. We’ve been punished because we were speaking about Palestine.”
The protest began around 8 a.m. on April 15, 2024, blocking traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge for more than four hours, leaving drivers stranded, and creating what prosecutors described as a serious safety hazard.
Among those trapped were a surgeon who said he had to cancel his surgeries for the remainder of the day and a mother who was unable to access food or water for her baby.
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Jenkins defended the prosecution, arguing that the protesters’ First Amendment rights did not override public safety concerns.
“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.”
