Felony charges dropped against Golden Gate Bridge protesters

Pedestrians and bicyclists wait outside the pedestrian gate on the south side of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is closed due to protesters, April 15, 2024, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File) 2026-08-26T13:06:34Z A two-year legal battle over a dramatic protest against the war on Gaza came to an end on Friday as seven protesters who’d blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge received 30-day sentences and $1,000 fines. Over two dozen activists halted several lanes of traffic on the bridge on April 15, 2024, six months into Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory that has been widely recognized as a genocide . San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins charged 26 of them with crimes. Most were offered diversion, in the form of fines and community service, but Jenkins hit seven protesters with a raft of serious charges, including felony conspiracy. Six of the seven defendants — Sarah Ferrell, Conrad de Jesus, Em Tillotson, and Bhavika Anandpura of Oakland and Rocky Chau and River Allen of Richmond — had locked themselves together in order to halt commuter traffic coming into the city. A seventh, Sara Cantor, had served as a police liaison. After a two-and-a-half-week trial, jurors deadlocked in June over the most serious charges but convicted the protesters on several misdemeanors, including obstructing a thoroughfare, unlawful assembly, and four counts of false imprisonment related to trapped commuters. Jenkins’ office had considered a new trial on the conspiracy charges, but assistant district attorney Angela Roze announced on Friday that the remaining charges would all be dropped. Jordan Harger, one of the 19 defendants who had received diversion, described that decision as something of a relief. “We were absolutely worried there’d be a new trial,” Harger said. “Brooke Jenkins has made harsh choices throughout this process.” (