California Highway Patrol took to social media April 16 to explain why it took so long to arrest and clear pro-Palestinian protesters from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and Interstate 880 the day before.
The protest at the two locations resulted in 38 arrests and a five-hour closure of the iconic bridge starting before 8 a.m., and the popular highway in Oakland starting before 6:15 a.m. The closures snarled traffic throughout the Bay Area as commuters were rerouted.
The department shared videos and photos showing protesters cementing themselves and using steel barrels, rebar, and other construction materials to join together to create a human barrier.
The CHP arrested 26 demonstrators on the Golden Gate Bridge and 12 on I-880 before reopening the busy arteries Monday afternoon.
Similar demonstrations erupted in Los Angeles and other California cities Monday in solidarity with protests throughout the world.
In Fremont, Calif., about 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrated at the Tesla factory Monday night. Police reportedly fired pepper balls, which are projectiles filled with pepper spray that burst on impact, at the demonstrators after they tore down police fencing set up around the factory.
The events were part of a worldwide campaign, organized by A15 Action, which called for blocking “arteries of capitalism and jamming the wheels of production” on April 15, or tax day, according to the group’s website.
Starting at about 7:55 a.m. on the Golden Gate Bridge, some protesters stayed in their cars and chained themselves to other demonstrators standing on the roadway blocking the bridge’s southbound lanes. CHP officers also blocked the northbound lanes for safety reasons, according to Officer Darrel Horner.
“They had pipes on their arms with chains linked up inside,” Mr. Horner told The Epoch Times. “The situation prevented us from getting in there quickly and pulling them out.”
Police impounded four vehicles on the bridge, according to the CHP. It appears no one was injured during the incident.
On I-880 at 5th Avenue at Embarcadero, demonstrators blocked the roadway starting at 6:45 a.m. by using seven 55-gallon drums filled with concrete and rebar strung together with heavy-duty chains. Officers had to break through the hardened concrete and cut the rebar before the demonstrators could be arrested.
“This required the use of jackhammers and heavy-duty saws to remove these devices before protesters could be arrested,” the CHP reported.
The first lanes of I-880 were reopened at 10 a.m. and all lanes were opened at 1:15 p.m. Officers arrested seven protesters at the location, CHP said.
At 8:15 a.m., protesters blocked the southbound lanes of I-880 at 7th Street. The crowd quickly grew to 300 participants on foot as they blocked the highway. Five people were arrested at the location and the first lanes were reopened at 12:30 p.m., according to the CHP.
The CHP expects to file several charges against the suspects, including unlawful assembly, remaining at an unlawful assembly, refusal to comply with a lawful order, unlawful pedestrians on a freeway, conspiracy to commit a crime, and false imprisonment.
Those arrested on the Golden Gate Bridge also faced charges related to unlawfully stopping on a bridge, the CHP added.
All charges will be forwarded to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution, the CHP said.
“This was a complex operation and the California Highway Patrol made every effort to get the lanes open as quickly as possible,” the agency said, explaining the delay. “As calls came in for service, we deployed personnel accordingly to each event.”
The CHP’s disentanglement team was able to defeat the intricate devices used by the protesters while minimizing injury risk to the public, protesters, and the police, the agency added.
Attempting to block or shut down a freeway or state highway to protest is unlawful, according to the CHP. The agency plans to continue to take enforcement action by issuing citations, impounding vehicles, and arresting those who block traffic or pose a threat to public safety.
