San Francisco protesters who blocked bridge to demand cease-fire will avoid criminal proceedings

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Seventy-eight protesters were ordered to do five hours of community service and pay restitution to avoid criminal proceedings for allegedly blocking traffic on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge for hours in November to demand a cease-fire in Gaza, prosecutors said.

The Nov. 16 protest came as San Francisco was hosting President Joe Biden and other world leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Protesters calling for a cease-fire have also blocked major roadways in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

“This is a victory not only for those exercising their right to protest a genocide being fueled by their tax dollars, but for the growing global movement demanding freedom for the Palestinian people,” Aisha Nizar, one of the protesters, said in a news release. “We emerge from this case even stronger and more united in our commitment to one another and to the people of Palestine.”

About 200 protesters participated in the San Francisco demonstration during the global trade summit, and they blocked all lanes of traffic into San Francisco on the bridge’s upper deck, with some drivers tossing their keys into the bay. Eighty people were arrested, and 29 vehicles were towed. Protesters demanded that Biden call for an immediate cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

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