A San Francisco County Superior Court jury on July 2, 2026, convicted all seven defendants in People v. de Jesus et al. on three misdemeanor counts, false imprisonment, obstruction of a thoroughfare, and unlawful assembly, arising from the April 2024 shutdown of the Golden Gate Bridge [1][2]. The defendants, Conrad de Jesus, Rocky Chau, Sarah Ferrell, River Allen, Em Tillotson, Bhavika Anandpura, and Sara Cantor, were among a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who brought traffic on the span to a halt [2][3]. Prosecutors had charged the group under the banner of the so-called "Golden Gate 26," a coordinated action that blocked the bridge for several hours [1][2].
The trial, presided over by Judge Teresa Caffese of the San Francisco County Superior Court, centered on whether the defendants' conduct during the protest crossed into criminal territory under California law [1]. The jury convicted Cantor on one additional count, refusal to disperse, while the full panel acquitted no defendants on any charge [1][2]. On the most serious count, a felony conspiracy charge, and on a misdemeanor trespassing count, the jury deadlocked, and Judge Caffese declared a mistrial on those two counts [1][2].
The hung counts leave open the question of whether prosecutors will retry the defendants on felony conspiracy, a charge that, if pursued again, would carry substantially greater sentencing exposure than the misdemeanor convictions [1]. The case drew attention in part because charging protesters with felony conspiracy is an aggressive prosecutorial posture that critics argued could chill lawful dissent [1][2]. The verdicts represent the first criminal convictions to emerge from the Golden Gate 26 action [1].
Sentencing is scheduled for August 21, 2026, before Judge Caffese [1][2]. The misdemeanor convictions carry a maximum of one year in county jail per count under California law, though first-time offenders frequently receive lesser penalties. Whether the district attorney's office will reprosecute on the two deadlocked counts had not been publicly announced as of the verdict date [1].