A big courtroom win for the protesters known as “the GG26” who blocked the Golden Gate Bridge with a Gaza ceasefire protest on April 15, as an SF judge has thrown out 32 of the 44 charges that DA Brooke Jenkins had brought against them.

Now more than seven months after the April 15 protests blocked the Golden Gate Bridge to urge a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, the protesters are still in the news as their case winds its way through the courts.

Back in August, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins charged 26 people with a slew of felonies including false imprisonment, saying that “hundreds of motorists were trapped on the Golden Gate Bridge and US 101, who had no choice but to remain imprisoned on the freeway for several hours.” But the felony counts brought backlash after previous bridge protesters had not faced such serious charges.

In a Friday ruling, SF Superior Court Judge Judge Brendan P. Conroy seemed to agree. KTVU reports that Judge Conroy dismissed 32 of the 44 charges against the 26 protesters, tossing out nearly 75% of all charges. According to a release from defense attorneys, “The judge also expressed an openness to reducing the charges for eight individuals from felonies to misdemeanors, and reducing restitution to a reasonable amount when the case proceeds in December.”

“Today’s decision is a huge win for our clients and the community at large,” defense attorney Jeff Wozniak said in that release. “DA Jenkins overcharged this case and that was why Judge Conroy dismissed 75 percent of the charges. The clients know their actions were just, taken to speak up for the thousands of Palestinians murdered in the past year and that the initial, overly-harsh charges were merely an effort to silence their activism.”

Though the Chronicle points out that many of the felony charges remain in place. One of the defendants facing felony charges had their case dismissed outright, leaving seven of the 26 defendants still facing felony charges of false imprisonment and conspiracy.

An arraignment for those remaining charges is scheduled for Friday, December 6 at SF Superior Court.

Related: Protests Block Golden Gate Bridge, All Northbound Lanes of 880 In Oakland [SFist]

Image: @JerseyNoahx via Twitter