The seven Golden Gate Bridge protesters who were last month found guilty of a litany of misdemeanors over a 2024 pro-Palestine protest were today each handed six months’ probation, along with 30 days in county jail.
Those sentences come with an option to cut that incarceration time in half, for a total jail time of less than one percent of the maximum of five years that their guilty verdicts carried.
In a major win for the defendants Friday, the San Francisco district attorney also moved to dismiss the felony charges of conspiracy, along with misdemeanor trespass, on which the jury deadlocked last month.
Those deadlocked charges, if convicted in a retrial, could have added some 10 years to their sentences.
The defendants were charged for an April 2024 protest in which they blocked the Golden Gate Bridge, with cars and locked arms, for four hours in a pro-Palestine protest. The DA had initially charged 26 defendants, before charges against 19 of them were dismissed or diverted. These seven were charged with more serious charges, including felonies.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Teresa Caffese has presided over the case since April, when pre-trial hearings began. At the sentencing hearing Friday afternoon, Caffese read out each of the seven defendants’ 30-day sentences, with options to participate in the San Francisco sheriff’s work alternative program for 15 of those days. Their sentences also included over $1,000 in fines.
“Let me be clear: You are not being sentenced for your beliefs,” Caffese said. “You are being sentenced because a jury of your peers found you guilty of the crimes.”
The sentencing came after Caffese read a letter from a juror who described reaching a conviction as an extremely difficult decision.
“I’m writing to respectfully and humbly ask that you consider leniency,” the juror wrote to the court.
Before handing down jail time, Caffese addressed each of the defendants and read a brief character description, highlighting qualities like kindness and compassion, and evidence of their dedication to social causes.
That praise came to an end, however, and Caffese took a sterner tone on the matter of civil disobedience. “You the defendants are not new to civil disobedience,” she said.
Invoking Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she told the defendants “each of you knew you were violating the law,” and that they “should be prepared to accept the consequences of their actions.”
Assistant District Attorney Angela Roze explained that her office had requested that each defendant see 16 days of jail time, a symbolic reference to the four hours that they blocked the bridge, multiplied by the four guilty counts of false imprisonment. Their sentences essentially align with that request.
The protesters were convicted in July at the conclusion of a lengthy jury trial. They were among some two dozen charged by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, but were specifically targeted with felony conspiracy charges based on their participation and organization of the blockade protest.
Although their sentences are comparably minor to the maximum sentence applicable to their convictions, multiple defense attorneys requested to further reduce jail time for their clients.
When one attorney requested that the judge consider home detention as an alternative to days in jail, Caffese responded “I have.”
“I’ve stated my reasons. And quite frankly I think this is a very fair sentence,” Caffese said. Later, she allowed defendant Rocky Chau to serve his time non-consecutively, after Chau’s attorney requested he have time outside to take care of his “disabled and elderly mother.”
Still, she denied other requests to reduce jail time, including for defendant Sarah Cantor, whose disability and dependence on a cane would complicate her time in jail, Cantor’s attorney said. The judge granted that Cantor could spend time on house arrest instead of the work alternative, on account of her disability.
As part of courtroom procedure, each defendant had to verbally accept their charges. When defendant Bhavika Anandpura was asked if she accepted her sentence, she said “with the belief that someday all prisoners will be free, I accept.”
When Assistant DA Roze later moved to dismiss the felony charges, those in the courtroom turned to one another and embraced.
“Securing a conviction of conspiracy likely would not secure a meaningful change,” Roze said, noting the considerable resources that have already gone into prosecution, which has lasted over two years.
Sighs of relief and murmurs filled the courtroom gallery. Immediately after the hearing, supporters of the protesters hugged and cried, and filled the hall with chants, including “Free Palestine,” and “Brick by brick, wall by wall, we will make these prisons fall.”
