Charges were announced for 26 people, including eight who are facing charges of felony conspiracy and 18 facing misdemeanor conspiracy. Other charges include trespassing, unlawful assembly and failure to obey a uniformed officer, among other charges.
The protest involved a group parking vehicles and sitting next to them with a chain that ran through the vehicles' windows and was locked to those sitting on the bridge. The chain prevented California Highway Patrol officers from immediately removing the protesters.
No injuries were reported by District Attorney Jenkins in connection with the protests, but several issues like missed surgeries and medical appointments, a baby without water for infant formula, and people stuck without bathrooms were just some of the issues people on the bridge faced.
More than 200 people called the California Highway Patrol on the day of the protest reporting they were stuck in the bridge. Using traffic averages, the DA's office said about 20,000 vehicles were blocked from using the bridge during the hours of the protest, but did not specify how many were on the bridge at the time.
The announcement of the prosecution of protesters who were denouncing US support for Israel's war in Gaza came the same day an Israeli airstrike killed dozens of civilians at a school being used as a refugee shelter.
The charges of false imprisonment of drivers stuck on the Golden Gate Bridge for about four-and-a-half hours also comes as 115 hostages are still being held by Hamas, including Israelis and foreign nationals, according to the United Nations.
They were taken along with others in a raid by Hamas militants into Israel in an attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7 last year. The response by Israel has killed close to 40,000 Palestinians, including about 10,000 children, according to the United Nations.
