SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – Traffic came to a halt on the iconic Golden Gate Bridge on Monday morning as a group of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a demonstration, causing disruptions in both directions. The protesters blocked southbound traffic midspan, leading authorities to shut down the bridge in its entirety for several hours.
After around three hours of closure, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reopened the bridge to southbound traffic at approximately 12:15 p.m. However, northbound traffic was briefly held as law enforcement officials cleared the area and made arrests. Both directions of the bridge were fully reopened by 12:20 p.m., but residual delays were expected for drivers.
This incident marked the second protest impacting traffic on Bay Area freeways that day, following an earlier demonstration that closed all lanes on I-880 in Oakland. The disruption on the Golden Gate Bridge resulted in significant traffic congestion, with southbound vehicles backed up through the Robin Williams Tunnel and past Sausalito on southbound 101.
Video footage from a helicopter showed protesters on the bridge holding a banner that read “STOP THE WORLD FOR GAZA” across the southbound lanes. While the protest was contained to the southbound side, authorities temporarily closed the northbound lanes during their efforts to clear the demonstration.
As the morning progressed, law enforcement officers detained multiple protesters, leading to a total of 20 arrests in connection with the two separate protests. Tow trucks were called in to remove vehicles that had been used to block lanes during the demonstration on the bridge.
In response to the protests, additional demonstrations were planned in San Francisco, with one at UN Plaza and another at the Tesla factory in Fremont later in the day. The protests were part of ongoing actions by various activist groups advocating for Palestinian causes.