Golden Gate Bridge Protesters Plead Not Guilty to Felony and Misdemeanor Charges

Anti-war activists accused of participating in a protest that shut down the Golden Gate Bridge in April pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges ranging from conspiracy to false imprisonment in San Francisco on Monday morning.

The protest blocked the bridge on Tax Day to decry U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza and to demand a cease-fire.

Hundreds of supporters packed the hallways at the Hall of Justice to rally for the defendants, known as the Golden Gate 26. Eight face felony conspiracy charges and 18 have been charged with misdemeanors. Collectively, the entire group faces more than 1,000 charges of false imprisonment linked to people who were caught in the traffic jam on the bridge.

Jeff Wozniak, an attorney representing the protesters facing felony charges, has called this an “unprecedented charging decision” by District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to preempt future protests.

“This is not the type of case that people should be in jail for,” Wozniak said. “The community recognizes the long history of political activism in the Bay Area and recognizes that this is an utterly ridiculous waste of resources on behalf of D.A. Jenkins and clearly an attempt to chill political speech.”

The legal team of the defendants facing felony charges plan to argue that the district attorney should have recused herself from the case based on what they have called a “pro-Israel bias.” They demanded more information about the content of two private meetings she held with the Israeli Consulate and about gifts she received during those meetings.

In April, the district attorney’s office said the charges were not political.

“Charging decisions are made based on the facts, evidence and the law,” the office said in a statement. “We do not pursue political prosecutions under any circumstances at any time.”

The office also said Jenkins would recuse herself in the case of a conflict of interest and that it is not unusual for her to conduct meetings with foreign officials.

Jenkins has previously said that the Golden Gate Bridge protest compromised public safety and caused “extreme threats” to those trapped on the bridge during the morning commute.

Criminal defense attorneys and legal experts have questioned her approach to prosecuting the protesters, especially the controversial false imprisonment charges, which defined delayed motorists as victims. In past mass prosecutions, protesters have typically faced misdemeanor charges for blocking a roadway and for disobeying the orders of law enforcement.

Instead, in the days after the Golden Gate Bridge protest, the district attorney put out a call on social media to anyone trapped on the bridge on April 15, saying that they may be entitled to financial compensation.

“We depend on prosecutors to be reliable, fair, and equitable in their charging decisions,” Wozniak said. “And if you have two similar actions, they should be charged the same way.”

Late last year, a group of 78 pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to call for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza. The so-called Bay Bridge 78 were charged with five misdemeanors each — including false imprisonment — and reached an agreement to avoid jail time in March.

Rachel Lederman, an attorney with the Center for Protest Law and Litigation, who represented the Bay Bridge 78, said there was no difference in conduct between the two cases and that claims of false imprisonment are “far-fetched.”

According to Lederman, in the Bay Bridge case, one motorist did receive a “small amount” of restitution.

Someone who was trapped on the Bay Bridge became ill and required an ambulance. The costs were then divided among the 78 Bay Bridge protesters before their cases were dismissed.

“But in the case of the Golden Gate 26, the D.A. seems to be seeking some large amount of restitution,” Lederman said.

The Golden Gate Bridge protesters initially surrendered to police in early August after a warrant was issued for their arrest by the California Highway Patrol.

The felony defendants will return to court on Sept. 30, and those facing misdemeanors will return to court at the end of October. If found guilty of criminal charges, the protesters would face years of jail time.

Wozniak said that after their hearing on Monday morning, his clients “feel empowered.”

“They know that they’re on the right side of justice, on the right side of history,” he said. “And as we see across this country — week in, week out — the people are willing to put their bodies on the line to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza.”