The San Francisco district lawyer has charged 26 folks in connection to an April anti-Israel protest that shut down the Golden Gate Bridge for practically 5 hours, trapping a whole lot of drivers together with a mom along with her child and a surgeon who needed to reschedule an operation.
District Lawyer Brooke Jenkins introduced the costs on Saturday, saying eight of the suspects had been charged with felony conspiracy, 38 counts of false imprisonment, trespassing to intervene with enterprise, obstruction of a thoroughfare, illegal meeting, refusal to disperse at a riot, and failure to obey the lawful order of a uniformed officer.
Eighteen of the suspects had been charged with misdemeanor conspiracy as a substitute of felony conspiracy, together with the identical further prices the opposite eight people face.
Jenkins stated arrest warrants have been issued for the suspects and that they have to give up to the California Freeway Patrol (CHP) no later than Monday.
ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS BLOCK GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE TRAFFIC
“Whereas we should shield avenues free of charge speech, the train of free speech can not compromise public security,” Jenkins stated. “The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge brought about a stage of security threat, together with excessive threats to the well being and welfare of these trapped, that we as a society can not ignore or permit.”
An affidavit filed with the court docket exhibits that a whole lot of motorists had been trapped on the Golden Gate Bridge and US-101 for hours due to the coordinated protest.
Simply earlier than 8 a.m. on April 15, 2024, protesters gathered on US-101 southbound close to the center span of the bridge and blocked site visitors utilizing automobiles and pedestrians who had been holding indicators within the roadway.
The bridge captain recognized himself to the protesters and notified them they had been breaking the regulation and blocking site visitors. If they didn’t transfer their automobiles, the captain warned, the protesters could be arrested.
One individual sporting a neon pink security vest with the phrases “Police Liaison,” later recognized as Sara Cantor, allegedly instructed the captain she understood, however as a result of the drivers had been chained collectively, they might not be shifting and that the fireplace division must lower them free.
The affidavit alleges that the dialogue between regulation enforcement didn’t produce an answer.
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS SHUT DOWN SENATE CAFETERIA; AROUND 50 ARRESTED
Three automobiles parked on the entrance of the protests had folks inside who had been locked to a metallic tube, later known as “Sleeping Dragons.”
CHP personnel lower into one of many metallic tubes, then warned the remaining protesters their automobiles could be lower to take away them from their automobiles.
Cantor allegedly requested to talk with the protesters, and after doing so, they selected to climb out of their automobiles and give up to police. All six of the protesters had been arrested, as was Cantor.
The bridge finally reopened at 12:20 p.m.
Whereas the bridge was closed, 35 victims instructed police they had been trapped. The affidavit notes quite a few studies of victims who missed work, vital medical appointments, college and flights.
One sufferer within the affidavit was stated to have missed a pre-op appointment to have a tumor faraway from their temporal lobe.
One other sufferer, who’s a mom, reported not having water for toddler method and lacking a pre-surgery appointment for her child.
Extra victims included a surgeon who needed to cancel and reschedule their total surgical procedure schedule for the day, in addition to a mom’s report of her disabled youngster being caught on a college bus for 4 hours on the bridge.
Officers stated the bridge misplaced greater than $162,000 due to the ordeal, that 12,000 automobiles sometimes use the southbound lanes between 8 a.m. and midday and that 8,000 automobiles use the northbound lanes throughout the identical interval.