The trial of seven protesters who were arrested on the Golden Gate Bridge in 2024 for protesting Israel's mass slaughter of civilians in Gaza resumed yesterday.
All of the defendants are facing one count of felony conspiracy and several misdemeanors, including nine counts of false imprisonment. They face a maximum of 14 to 15 years in prison.
The group was arrested on April 15, 2024, after they blocked three open lanes of southbound traffic at the midway point of the iconic bridge.
The group locked themselves together with a chain. Some people stood outside of vehicles and some stayed inside them, making it hard for first responders to disentangle them.
The protesters were calling on U.S. lawmakers to end military support for Israel. The Israeli government was being accused of war crimes for its killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza.
By the time the trial started last month, the United Nations said about 73,000 Palestinians had been killed. About 70 percent of the casualties were women, children and the elderly. An estimated 173,000 others have been injured.
The seven have separate cases that are being tried together in San Francisco Superior Court.
