Judge sends deadlocked jury in Golden Gate 26 trial back to deliberate
Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down the Golden Gate Bridge. April 15, 2024.
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco jury on Thursday told a judge they were "hopelessly" deadlocked on one county in a case where seven Gaza supporters who overtook the Golden Gate Bridge in 2024 face charges that range from conspiracy and false imprisonment.
Sent back for deliberations
What we know:
The jury foreman told Superior Court Judge Teresa Caffese they were deadlocked on two counts, but when she asked if they were "hopelessly" deadlocked, the foreman said only on one count.
The jury, he said, might be able to reach a verdict if they had more clarification on some terms.
Caffese said she was happy to answer any questions and sent them back for more deliberations.
Stuck for hours
Why you should care:
The charges stem from what happened on April 15, 2024, when about two dozen protesters, nicknamed the Golden Gate 26, stopped traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge for hours to demonstrate against the U.S. government’s support for Israel as it attacked Gaza.
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Drivers were stuck waiting for law enforcement to clear the bridge and remove the activists, some of whom were bound together with PVC pipes.
While prosecutors say the case is clear-cut, the defendants argue they were acting on a moral imperative: drawing attention to the war in Gaza.
In November 2024, Judge Brendan P. Conroy dropped or reduced charges against most of the defendants after finding insufficient evidence to charge them with more serious crimes.
The seven defendants on trial face felony charges of conspiring and restricting drivers' freedom to move for four hours.
In May, seven defendants' attorneys took turns addressing the jury, saying the protesters felt they had no choice but to take action against a war they feel was harming innocent civilians in Gaza.
"(They) never wanted to cause harm to anyone, never had any intent to break the law because there was a real, ongoing emergency they wanted to address," Deputy Public Defender Nuha Abusamra said at the time.
The Source: Court hearing, prior KTVU reporting