Protesters against Israel’s war on the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip were able to shut down traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and police took their sweet time clearing them out.
The protest began around 7:30 a.m. on Monday when dozens of protesters stopped their cars on the iconic bridge and blocked all southbound traffic.
It took about 45 minutes for the California Highway Patrol to issue an alert that all the traffic going south was stopped, and then police shut down traffic going northbound as well.
At 10:30 a.m., the CHP social media account for Marin County indicated that they were on scene and were making arrests, three hours after the protest began. Police initially said they had made 15 arrests and later said they had arrested 38 people in total.
It took another two hours before the same account indicated that both lanes were open to traffic.
One video on social media showed a man angrily yelling at the protesters to get out of the way and then showed police standing around and not doing anything to move the protesters.
“The police are doing absolutely nothing to clear the Golden Gate Bridge,” the account claimed.
Other protests shut down traffic at two places in Oakland at the same time when protesters chained themselves to large barrels with concrete and rebar.
CHP Golden Gate Division Chief Don Goodman told reporters in a media briefing later that day that they were working with prosecutors to file a multitude of charges against protesters.
Those charges included:
- Unlawful assembly
- Remaining at an unlawful assembly
- Refusal to comply with a lawful order
- Unlawful to stop on a bridge
- Resisting and delaying an officer
- Unlawful for a pedestrian to be on a freeway
- Conspiracy to commit a crime
- False imprisonment.
“This was a complex operation, and the California Highway Patrol made every effort to get lanes open as quickly as possible,” said Goodman.
“Attempting to block or shut down a freeway or state highway to protest is unlawful, it’s dangerous, and it prevents motorists from safely reaching their destinations,” he added.
One driver told KGO-TV that they missed a colon surgery because of the protest, and another said they were missing a stem cell replacement procedure.
“They’re frozen. I have to get there before they thaw. I’m feeling frustrated, I support the right for people to protest, but if It causes thousands of people disturbance, it isn’t the right way to go about it,” said Rachel McKim.
Here’s more about the incident:
Golden Gate Bridge traffic completely blocked by pro-Palestinian protestwww.youtube.com
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