By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, July 2 (Reuters) – Seven protesters who blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest against Israel’s war in Gaza were convicted of misdemeanor charges by a San Francisco jury that remained deadlocked on the more serious charge of felony conspiracy.
The jury convicted each of the seven protesters on six misdemeanor counts, including false imprisonment, obstruction of thoroughfare and unlawful assembly, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement on Thursday.
One defendant was also convicted of another misdemeanor charge of refusing to disperse, Jenkins said.
The protesters will be sentenced in August and face up to five years in a county jail.
Large-scale protests in the U.S. in 2024 demanded an end to Israel’s war in Gaza and Washington’s support for its ally. The protests also called for the divestment of funds by universities from companies supporting Israel.
The jury could not reach a verdict on the most serious charge of felony conspiracy – an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime coupled with an overt act – which could have led to a sentence as long as 15 years upon conviction.
“At this time we will evaluate our options and consider next steps,” Jenkins said.
Defense attorneys argued demonstrators were acting out of what they saw as a moral responsibility to oppose the devastation from Israel’s war in Gaza and Washington’s support for its ally.
They also argued that protesters decided to adopt the method of blocking the bridge after other methods like writing letters and appealing to congressional representatives produced no result.
Jenkins’ office argued the protest blocked traffic for four hours and caused a safety risk for those stuck in the traffic jam.
Nuha Abusamra, who represented one of the defendants, said the conviction on lesser charges marked a victory, according to local media KQED.
“Taking a bridge and blocking traffic for a few hours years ago is the bare minimum that we should be doing as American citizens while our tax dollars continue to fund the mass genocide of Palestinians,” she said.
Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza – which has killed tens of thousands, triggered a hunger crisis and internally displaced Gaza’s population – has been called a genocide by rights experts, scholars and United Nations inquiries.
Israel describes its actions as self-defense following an October 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people and in which over 250 were taken hostage.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry)
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