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Jail, Fines, and Community Service
https://sfstandard.com/2026/08/21/golden-gate-bridge-protesters-get-30-day-jail-sentences/
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People are Revolting — Jail, Fines, and Community Service. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
If you want the sign that humanity has still got to going on. The people are revolting. Oh, welcome to people are revolting. A Daily Dose of Disobedience. This be written by George Kelly and is published at sfstandard.com. Seven pro-Palestinian protesters convicted of misdemeanors stemming from their blockage
of the Golden Gate Bridge in 2024 were each sentenced on Friday to 30 days in jail, ordered to perform community work and find $1,000. The penalties were relatively light for the defendants who faced five or more years behind bars after their convictions in July for false imprisonment, unlawful assembly, and obstructing a thoroughfare. The defendants will spend up to half the 30-day sentence in jail and will perform public work under the supervision of the Sheriff's Office for the remainder of the time. Bavika Anandpura, River Allen, Rocky Chow, Sarah Cantor, Conrad De Jesus, Sarah Farell, and M. Tillerson will also be on probation for six months, superior court judge Teresa Cafese decided. The judge granted an exception for Cantor, allowing her to serve her sentence through electronic home detention, rather than the work program, citing testimony on her mobility impairment.
Addressing the defendants directly, Cafese said she had reviewed dozens of character letters and exhibits submitted on their behalf, describing the group as people motivated by compassion and a sense of justice. But she said their beliefs were not the basis for the sentence. You're not being sentenced for your beliefs, she said, adding that the jury's conviction reached after weighing testimony from commuters who described fear and lost wages during the roughly four-hour closure required accountability. Deputy Public Defender Nuhah Abu Samra pressed the court on why the defendants, all first-time misdemeanor offenders, were not offered electronic monitoring or home detention, alternative she said, are routinely granted to other misdemeanor defendants in San Francisco courts, including in domestic violence cases. Why is it that in this courthouse anyone else who comes through gets the option, and here they don't?
Abu Samra asked, questioning whether the defendants' political activity factored into the decision. A group of approximately 100 supporters cheered for them outside the courthouse. They just got a handful of convictions, a handful of jail time after our clients faced over 40 years in jail, but we stand victorious today, public defender Anthony Gideon, told the cheering crowd. This was politically motivated, this was a choice by our local government to stand with the oppressors, and not with the oppressed. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins had also charged a seven with felony conspiracy and misdemeanor trespassing, but jurors were deadlocked on those counts. Prosecutors revealed Friday that they would not seek to retry the defendants. While the people did not condone the planning of this personal activity, we are also cognizant of the public resources it would take to retry the conspiracy charge. It would require courtroom resources, seating another jury, Deputy District Attorney Angela Rose said.
The seven were part of a group that blocked traffic on the bridge for hours on April 15, 2024. They stopped their cars on the span, and some locked themselves together, as they called for an end to USA to Israel. Jenkins, who was criticized for seeking lengthy prison terms, said the defendants' actions posed a serious public hazard. The people do remain hopeful that the defendants will learn from this incident and will be deterred from engaging in similar conduct in the future, Rose said. Our community deserves to be safe and have freedom of movement on our roadways. Police arrested 26 people, but a judge dismissed charges against many of them. You can find all the back episodes of People Are Revolting at PeopleAreRevolting.com And now you find some links there to find a protest happening in your area. If you know of some good resources for protests going on in your area, send them my way. You find a link on the website to send me a message as well.
And you can listen to this and all my podcasts playing 24-7 at MovingTrainRadio.com. Thanks for listening. If you want to sign that humanity is still going on. The people are revolting. If you want to sign that humanity is still going on. The people are revolting.
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