Pro-Palestine protesters who blocked Golden Gate Bridge convicted of misdemeanor charges

The Golden Gate Bridge after it was blocked by protesters in April 2024. Photograph: Paul Kuroda/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen The Golden Gate Bridge after it was blocked by protesters in April 2024. Photograph: Paul Kuroda/AFP/Getty Images Pro-Palestine protesters who blocked Golden Gate Bridge convicted of misdemeanor charges San Francisco jury fails to reach verdict on more serious felony conspiracy charge over April 2024 demonstration Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Seven protesters who blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge during a 2024 anti-war demonstration have been found guilty of misdemeanor charges in a case that became yet another flashpoint over how governments and major institutions respond to pro-Palestinian protests in the Trump era. The jury, which deliberated for a total of seven days, was deadlocked on the most serious charge: felony conspiracy. If convicted of that charge, the defendants would have faced a potential sentence of 15 years in prison. The jury also could not reach a verdict on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. It’s unclear whether there will be a retrial for the deadlocked charges. But the seven protesters were each convicted of six misdemeanors, including false imprisonment and obstruction of thoroughfare. One defendant, Sara Cantor, was convicted of an additional misdemeanor charge of refusing to disperse. The protesters will be sentenced on 21 August. Six of the protesters face a maximum sentence of five years in county jail; Cantor faces five-and-a-half years. “Today remains a victory,” public defender Nuha Abusamra, who represents one of the defendants, said following the verdict, according to KQED . “We do not fight solely to win. We fight for the resistance.” During the trial, which took place in a room at San Francisco’s superior court, jurors were presented dueling portrayals of the protest. The assistant district attorney Angela Roze argued that the April 2024 demonstration blocked traffic for more than four hours, trapping motorists on the Golden Gate Bridge in an effort she characterized as comprising conspiracy and false imprisonment, the San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time. Federal jury finds army veteran and two other ICE protesters guilty of conspiracy Read more The seven co-defendants who went to trial faced charges of felony conspiracy and misdemeanors for false imprisonment, unlawful assembly, obstructing a roadway and trespassing. “The demonstration on the Golden Gate Bridge caused a level of safety risk, including extreme threats to the health and welfare of those trapped, that we as a society cannot ignore or allow,” the San Francisco district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, said in a 2024 statement when her office brought charges four months after the incident. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, have maintained that protesters were acting out of a moral obligation to stop genocide and were doing what they could to halt Israeli strikes on Gaza – including parti