VALLEJO – Authorities on Monday arrested 38 people in connection with Gaza war protests that temporarily shut down the Golden Gate Bridge and Interstate 880 in Oakland.
Around 6:15 a.m., protesters blocked northbound I-880 at Embarcadero by chaining themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with concrete, the California Highway Patrol said in a news release.
Officers used jackhammers and heavy-duty saws to free the protesters before making seven arrests. All lanes of the freeway were opened by 1:15 p.m. the CHP said.
Another protest involving chained participants started around 7:55 a.m. at the Golden Gate Bridge. The CHP said it arrested 26 people, towed four vehicles and opened the bridge by 12:15 p.m.
Back on I-880 and starting around 8:15 a.m., about 300 protesters blocked the southbound direction at 7th Street. Five people were arrested and all lanes were opened by 1 p.m., the CHP said.
The charges ranged from unlawful assembly to conspiracy to commit a crime to false imprisonment.
“This was a complex operation, and the California Highway Patrol made every effort to get the lanes open as quickly as possible,” the CHP said in the news release.
It was the second time protesters have shut down major highways in the Bay Area since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel plunged the Middle East into a bloody conflict and spawned protests across the United States.
Monday’s demonstrations were part of a global April 15 “economic blockade” by pro-Palestinian activists. A website called A15Action.com said the move was aimed at “blocking the arteries of capitalism and jamming the wheels of production” because “the global economy is complicit in genocide.” Similar demonstrations were seen in other U.S. cities including Chicago, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon.