Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office vowed this week to “vehemently” defend dozens of people arrested at a Golden Gate Bridge protest urging for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The SF PD, in a statement released Monday, said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced multiple charges against 26 protesters Saturday and gave them just two days (Monday) to turn themselves in to authorities.
Protestors “were demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to military aid to the state of Israel on the Golden Gate Bridge on April 15. Prosecutors demanded that the individuals turn themselves in to the California Highway Patrol,” the public defenders noted.
“The protestors are opposing American tax dollars being used to fund ongoing attacks on the people in Gaza, which the International Criminal Court has deemed crimes against humanity,” said Public Defender Mano Raju. “Our attorneys intend to vehemently defend any individuals we are appointed to represent.”
Raju’s office added, “Public Defenders support the time-honored tradition of civil disobedience, including the occupation of roadways, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led during the Civil Rights Movement to protest racial segregation in the 1960s.
“By charging anti-war protesters with dozens of felonies, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is weaponizing the law against people of conscience who are demanding an end to the ongoing displacement and killings of thousands of innocent children and adults in Gaza.”
The PD Office noted that “after the Golden Gate Bridge protest in April, Jenkins went fishing on Twitter for complaints about the protest even though no one was injured and the California Highway Patrol cleared the roadway with no resistance from protesters.”
The office added, “The CHP should be made to answer for the four-hour delay in resolving the protest, which augmented the inconveniences of commuters.”
A Vanguard check of demonstrations at the GGB—a favorite site by protestors of all stripes to use—found charges against people have seldom been filed.
