Pro-Palestinian protesters are, unsurprisingly, not happy about the SF district attorney's decision to charge 78 protesters with multiple misdemeanors for their participation in a disruptive demonstration last month on the Bay Bridge.
At least 200 demonstrators had gathered at San Francisco's Hall of Justice Monday morning with plans to "pack" courtrooms all week in support of their cohorts being charged by the city for the November 16 protest on the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the charges late last week, and they include false imprisonment, refusing to comply with a peace officer, unlawful public assembly, refusing to disperse, and obstruction of a street, sidewalk or other place open to public.
Jenkins announced a plan to arraign the 78 individuals being charged in "batches" throughout the week.
As the Chronicle reports, demonstrators are now intending to disrupt the arraignments of the 78 Bay Bridge protesters, now being referred to with the hashtag #BayBridge78.
The #BayBridge78 activists charged for shutting down the bridge for Palestine are on the steps of the courthouse in SF, facing arraignments all week for five different misdemeanors. Speakers are denouncing Brooke Jenkins: “You yourself, DA, are complicit in systems of oppression” pic.twitter.com/RjlQohimFM
— Ariel Boone (@arielboone) December 18, 2023
"Hundreds, including faith and labor leaders, showed up this morning to demand that DA Jenkins #dropthecharges," tweeted the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), the activist group that organized the Bay Bridge protest last month. "The #BayBridge78 are part of a long lineage of people using civil disobedience to bend the arc of history towards justice."
AROC said on its website that it would be "packing the court Monday through Friday" in support of the Bay Bridge 78.
The November 16 action held up westbound traffic on the Bay Bridge for over hours, and it took place as President Biden was in town for the APEC summit. Dozens of protesters used vehicles to blockade the bridge, unfurled banners, and staged a "die-in" on the roadway, draping themselves in white sheets to protest the war in Gaza. Banners called on Biden to call for a ceasefire, and to stop providing U.S. aid to Israel.
In a statement late last week, DA Jenkins said, "While we must protect avenues for free speech, the exercise of free speech can not compromise public safety. The demonstration on the Bay Bridge that snarled traffic for hours had a tremendous impact on those who were stuck on the bridge and required tremendous public resources to resolve."
Previously: SF District Attorney to Begin Filing Charges Against Bay Bridge Gaza Protesters
Top image via X/Arab Resource and Organizing Center
