disrupting the bay area commute for more than six hours today. demonstrators blocked 8-80 in oakland and the golden gate bridge, bringing traffic to a standstill. the movement, part of a worldwide economic blockade in solidarity with gaza. you're

watching, getting answers. i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us. the protests in the bay area started at 6:00 this morning. here's a look at the areas affected in oakland. northbound 880 at fifth avenue and southbound, 880 at seventh street, and the golden gate bridge shut down in both directions. chp started clearing protesters more than six hours later. and as you can imagine, it took some time for all that traffic with the obstructions and protesters and cars to clear out. but they've done it, and now everything is clear. here's a live look at the traffic in the bay area. now here's a live map as we head towards the afternoon commute that should be peaking shortly. so far, the scenes of these protests are all clear. they're not showing red in particular, although it is the bay area, so there are a few red spots with congestion right now. we have live team coverage on the aftermath of these protests and traffic disruptions. abc7 news reporter

cornell bernard is at the golden gate bridge. but let's start with abc7 news reporter lena howland. live in oakland. lena >> kristin, we are at the bottom of the on ramp to 880 southbound lanes here at seventh street in oakland, where things are really a much different story than the last time you checked in on us. only a couple of hours ago, the protesters that were here blocking the entrance to this onramp and that were blocking all lanes of southbound traffic on 880, have since cleared the area, and it wasn't until about 140 this afternoon when chp officers also finally cleared this area as well and reopened all lanes of traffic. now, here is a look at what happened on 880 northbound near fifth avenue in oakland earlier today. this all started around 6:00 this morning when protesters walked onto the highway physically chaining themselves to barrels. some demonstrators could even be seen sitting on the highway next to those barrels from our sky.

seven view protesters tell us these are each filled with concrete weighing about 300 pounds each. it took officials several hours to break through these barrels, opening the highway up one lane at a time, according to chp. the northbound lanes of the highway didn't fully reopen until about 130 today, shortly after that demonstrated shortly after that demonstration started. that's when chp says about 200 to 300 demonstrators made their way onto 880, blocking all southbound lanes at seventh street in oakland. this is right next to the port of oakland. to give you a better idea of where we're at, our sky seven view from earlier today showing some protesters being detained by police, with at least one being carried out by authorities and another receiving some kind of medical attention. while this is all unfolding, many of the protesters were blocking the on ramp at seventh street using their bikes, preventing any traffic from getting on the

highway. we talked to one protester here who says this is about drawing attention to the war in gaza and pushing our local and federal officials to call for a permanent ceasefire. they also want american tax dollars to stop funding support to israel, one of many reasons why they chose tax day for this demonstration. >> it has to end. these are not the principles of america. america stands for the truth. and if we have to go to jail for that, we will go to jail. we will defend those children's. we must keep the protest up. these are children that are dying and one of the things that we can do is stop paying the tax, get an extension. you are within the right to do that and let's do it. let's stop it. >> it wasn't until about 1:00 this afternoon when chp officers were somehow able to push protesters down the on ramp here

at seventh street peacefully. the protesters then marched from here to a bart station in west oakland. now all lanes here at 880 southbound have since reopened and it is not clear how many of those protesters were detained by police. for now. reporting in oakland, lena howland abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you so much. and again, you can see that on ramp to 880 is now clear at seventh street. thanks, lena. pro-palestinian protesters also took over the golden gate bridge in dramatic fashion today. abc seven news reporter cornell bernard continues our team coverage there now. cornell >> yeah, kristen, this is the day that a lot of commuters, safe to say, will not forget for quite a long time. we are awaiting a news conference by the california highway patrol to begin here near the flagpole at the bridge on the san francisco side. we hope to learn more details about what exactly did transpire here on the bridge

early this morning, but as you can see, traffic is now flowing very nicely here in both directions. that was not the case. several hours ago when this demonstration by pro-palestine protesters brought bridge traffic to a screeching halt. they would stay there for several hours. the chp says there was roughly about 20 people on the bridge that is at that is how many people were arrested in the 1130 12 p.m. hour they were processed. there have been taken to san francisco jail for processing. now, traffic came to a screeching halt, like i said, in both directions. north and southbound traffic backed up all the way through corte madera and into san francisco. definitely a lot of commuters did not get the email and didn't know about the protest. they were stuck several

places, including the robin williams tunnel. many people say that they understand that the protesters have a right to demonstrate on the bridge, but a lot of people say that they had medical appointments, and some of them were definitely life saving. and here's what one person said to us. you get out of you're being filmed road. >> you understand? do you think i care? you're in the wrong >> i'm heading into the city for a medical procedure that involves some stem cells, which are frozen and are now defrosted and waiting for me. i was supposed to have them put in at 9 a.m. this morning. so they have to get in today, so i have to get there. >> how are you feeling about all of this? >> i'm feeling pretty frustrated. you know what? i believe in the right to protest. and i believe in the right to express your point of view. but i think causing this type of

disturbance to thousands and thousands of people isn't the right way to go about it. >> i'm supposed to be at ucsf at 930. i left san rafael at 830 and surgery department said i have to be there by one or i have to reschedule. oh, no. and i'm supposed to have colon surgery. >> so definitely a lot of frustrated motorists there. folks were on their way. late this morning. early this afternoon, the bridge, according to the bridge district, shut down around 7:30 a.m. again, we are waiting for a new news conference to begin by the california highway patrol to learn more about this epic day on the golden gate bridge. live in san francisco. cornell, bernard, abc seven news. >> yeah, including i'm wondering, cornell, any word of what type of charges the protesters who were taken off the bridge might face? right. do you expect them to maybe talk about that at the news conference? >> yeah, perhaps they are still being we understand that about 20 protesters are still being processed at the jail. those

charges still unclear, though. chris >> all right. again, cornell bernard standing by live there where a news conference will happen shortly from the chp. thank you so much for covering this for us all day. appreciate it. all right. our coverage of these protests will continue up next, we dig more into the tactics and impact of these protests and explore whether mass disruption is as effective or justified. stay with

we were ready to say that there's enough, and especially because it's tax day, our taxes are being sent to fund this mass slaughter. meanwhile, our infrastructure is falling apart. there are homeless folks who are

being uncared for in the streets. we can't even get health care in this country while we're funding free health care in israel. so we're here to say that we will no longer be complicit in genocide. and our american money should be staying here to help our problems, and we're ending contingencies. >> well, those are the sentiments of one of the protesters. but now that you know why they did it, what are your thoughts on how they went about it? on social media, you'll see both support and anger at the protesters actions and tactics. shutting down a bridge or other main traffic corridor is something that's been used several times in the bay area since the israel-hamas war began in october. joining us live now to talk more about the changing tactics of protests, doctor nolan higdon, professor of history and communication at cal state east bay, doctor higdon, always great to have you back on. look, is this what we saw today? is this considered extreme protest action in the range of possible common protest actions? >> it's always a pleasure to

speak with you. you know, this has been uh- that is shutting down a roadway. this has been a tactic that has long been used by uh- protesters. and the ultimate goal is to force the public to reassess its priorities and pay attention to what the protesters want them to pay attention to, in this case in gaza, you know, i think the idea is there are so many distractions in contemporary society where, you know, phones always going off or commitments at work or life commitments, and these protesters are taking to the streets to try and force us to focus our attention on gaza. >> right. so then my question is, is it effective? and also it sounds like disruption is the point, but is inflicting pain on some of the members of the public. also the point? >> yeah. it's a very, careful line, you know, tiptoe, if you will, that protesters have to operate in on the one hand, they have to, to draw attention to their cause, which, you know, necessitates disrupting folks. but to your point, you also

don't want to alienate the very people you're trying to get into your movement, and so it's very difficult to walk that line. and i recognize that, that some people stuck in traffic, probably all people stuck in traffic, had a range of complications from being stuck there, but as that one protester, you know, would argue, i think from what we just heard, you know, they they seem to think that focus on the ethnic cleansing as they saw it was more important than whatever may be affecting people's lives and traffic. >> right. and do they do this so that those who normally don't pay attention, who aren't already embracing the cause will go? let me take a deeper look here. or is it more to influence decision makers and lawmakers who sense the public frustration and say, well, okay, let's consider divesting. for example, i'm just throwing something out there. >> yeah, i think, you know, i think all of the above, you know, i think there's a concern amongst protesters that, large portions of the public are not getting, you know, the entire story or the correct story. and

so this is a way for them to, you know, force them to confront what's actually going on in gaza, in their view, but certainly they're trying to also send a signal to world leaders. you know, we're here in 2024, there's major elections going on here in the united states, including the presidential election. and these protesters want to want to make it known that this is an issue that they, do not anticipate themselves backing down from. they're not going to compromise on this. and i think they're trying to signal that to leaders who are up for election, chief among them, president joe biden. >> you say it's a tightrope that they walk, though, right, to not lose public support, to, in fact, gain public support. so let's talk about how this has been employed in history. the civil rights activists i'm thinking of the 1960s marched on roads and bridges, and they were highly disruptive, but they still managed to win popular support. so does this movement as far as you can see, have public support. and i guess when do such tactics retain the moral high ground and when do they not ? >> it's a great question, you

know, strategically, a lot of the work that's done for these protests happens, you know, weeks, months in advance, it's, you know, it's organizing. it's having discussions about the topic. some of the ones we've discussed here today and kind of getting people on the same page and recognizing that we're not just, you know, going the bridge to mess around. there's actually a plan here, you brought up the civil rights movement. you know, the civil rights movement, knew how, you know, white people were going to react and how that would look bad for the united states in the context of the cold war. so it was a very smart, strategy. it remains to be seen if the organizers here today, in 2024, have that same savvy when, when they're looking at this, this issue, there is some polling, though, to, you know, to confirm at least people who identify as democratic voters and increasingly are becoming more sympathetic to these protesters cause and so whether or not this, protest will help strengthen that group or alienate them remains to be seen, right?

>> i mean, maybe it's reflective of our politics, but on social media, you see people really split on today's protest action. but what about the option of also getting attention but without hurting the public, for example? equally, attention getting climbing the salesforce tower, for example, and hanging a banner is that also a good option? >> absolutely. from a, you know, protester point of view, the more attention you can get to your cause, the better, so it's all of the above putting things on on towers, stopping people in traffic, interrupting leaders when they're when they're giving talks or holding meetings, the more you can do to face the public, to force the public to confront this, the better, but again, you know, a lot of the people that you may be trying to get on your side may be quite frustrated with the shutting down of traffic. and so, again, you have to walk that tightrope, to make sure you don't alienate too many of these people you're trying to reach out to. >> right? well, i mean, they did get coverage, right? plenty of

it and a lot of it. and that is part of what a protest is seeking to do, because if you have a whole bunch of people standing out all day, but nobody covers it, it's like the, you know, tree in the forest falling thing, but how about how about the social media age? has that changed? protests or the way they go about protests? or what makes for an effective one, yeah, there's a bit of, you know, debate about this, but from, from the studies i've read, at best social media can help amplify an existing movement. so if you've already kind of put in the time of the old school organizing where you get people together and inform them and plan together, social media can draw attention to it, but in the last 20 years, we've also seen a lot of movements that have tried to start and stay on social media and largely have have failed. so social media, you know, amongst the protest community, it's generally best if it's used to amplify an existing structure of protest. it's not a great place to start and hold protests, totally. >> and i wonder if you look at

this and you do we know who is driving this type of protest? maybe even this particular one. is it older people? is it younger people? and you hear a lot these days about antipathy and disengagement, especially amongst young people. what does this tell you, you know, i teach teaching college classrooms, and i find young people to be quite engaged. i think, like every generation, they see the world quite differently. and a lot of the polling we've seen have shown that, that young people are very, sympathetic to the folks in gaza and are not happy with what israel is doing or the us is supporting them. i think that's, again why they chose tax day to hold this protest, so i you know, at least from what i've seen and even going back a couple of years looking at black lives matter and other protests, young people seem very engaged, they seem to focus on some issues. they're willing to put their their bodies on the line, and so i think they should be taken seriously in a lot of these discussions. >> and, look, i know today's

particular protests because of the fact that it did shut down two main traffic orders. does have dissenters or denouncers who think this was not good. but i want to ask you, from a societal standpoint, when there are protests where protests do exist, is that the sign of a healthy society? is that what we want? >> absolutely, if people are too afraid of protests or not allowed to protest, you don't have a free society, you know, our constitution grants us these rights to peaceably assemble and freedom of speech. and that's what these folks are using, doctor higdon, thank you so much. i'm so sorry to cut you short. we've got a news conference starting, but always great talking with you. and now take care. now we take you to the chp live press conference. highway patrol chief ezra beauchamp, de-escalation of multiple similar protests in the bay area this morning. >> working alongside our law enforcement partners in the bay area, officers work to clear lanes as quickly as possible.

officers responded to each location and determined protesters had utilized various devices intended to impede law enforcement's ability to remove protesters, including. in these were 55 gallon drums filled with concrete and rebar resources from the chp offices across the bay area, as well as our allied agency personnel to include the oakland police department, san francisco police department, alameda county sheriff's office, and golden gate bridge. patrol responded to each incident and evaluate what was needed to remove the devices to take those involved into custody. at approximately 6:15 a.m, protesters blocked northbound i-880 at embarcadero. officers had to contend with 855 gallon drums filled with cement, rebar and heavy duty chains attaching protesters to the drums. the

first lanes were reopened at 10:00 am, with all lanes being reopened at 1:15 p.m. seven protesters were arrested at this location at approximate a.m, protesters blocked the us 101 southbound on the golden gate bridge. officers had to contend with numerous, excuse me, numerous vehicles chained with chains concealed with pipes connecting the drivers and passengers outside of the vehicles. all lanes were reopened at 12:15 p.m. and 26 people were arrested at this location. at approximately 8:15 a.m, a protest blocked i-80 southbound at seventh street. the group grew to approximately 300 protesters on foot on the freeway. the

first lanes were reopened at 12:30 p.m. and all lanes were reopened at 1:00 pm. five protesters were arrested at this location. the various charges being filed are as follows 407 pc unlawful assembly 409 pc remains at an unlawful assembly. 2800 a of the vehicle code refused to comply with a lawful order. 22 500 k as in king of the vehicle code. unlawful to stop on a bridge. 148 a1 resisting and delaying an officer 21 960 of the vehicle code unlawful for a pedestrian to be on a freeway. 182 a of the penal code conspiracy to commit a crime and 236 of the penal code. false imprisonment. we

have reached out to the alameda county district attorney's office, along with the san francisco district attorney's office and are working with them in order to file these charges. this was a complex operation, and the california highway patrol made every effort to get lanes open as quickly as possible. as calls came in for service, we deployed personnel accordingly to each event. our disentanglement team was able to successfully defeat the intricate devices. the prosecutor uh- the protesters utilized while minimizing the risk of injury to the public. the protesters themselves, along with departmental personnel attempting to block or shut down a freeway or a state highway to protest, is unlawful. it's dangerous, and it prevents motorists from safely reaching their destinations as necessary. the chp will take enforcement action that includes, but is not limited to, issuing citations, impounding vehicles, arresting

individuals who intentionally block block traffic on a state's transportation system or oppose any threat to public safety. so with that, i'll answer any questions that anybody might have. how many vehicles were towed from this site, and how many in total are going to potentially be impounded. so at this site here, we impounded four vehicles at the other location. i there would have been only one vehicle impounded. i believe, and the other one, everybody was on foot. there were no vehicles up on the freeway. so we didn't impound any there. yes, sir. so what happens to those you arrested now? >> are they going to be prosecuted by local authorities? do they get prosecuted by federal authorities because isn't the federal ban how does it work? >> they're going to be prosecuted by local authorities, though those on this bridge here, it will be with the san francisco district attorney's office on the i-80. it will be the alameda county district attorney's office. this was a very clearly a coordinated effort from each group. right. >> this is that the reason why

this is a conspiracy charge? it is entailed. and does this raise any kind of concern for public safety in general? >> well, the conspiracy charge is because it was obviously a conspiracy in the manner in which that they went about. it was an orchestrated event that they put forth. they blocked three separate locations on freeways, they prevented, you know, law enforcement, paramedics, ambulances to get to their points of destination. and prevented that from happening. and that's that can happen. you can protest at any which way you want, but it is unlawful to block a roadway and to prevent people from getting to work. emergency, personnel from getting to help people. you can't do it >> one. walk with restraint, charges. pardon me? restraint

>> false imprisonment. so the false imprisonment is you kept people from being able to get, to move the way the traffic was backed up. nobody could go anywhere. you could not back up. you could not go forward. they were stuck in a location that they couldn't move. so we'll work with the with the san francisco district attorney's office on that, and we'll see if that's one that they are willing to move forward. and fillled we discuss this, but what, if anything, can be done to try to ensure these actions? >> right. well, first thing we're doing is those that were involved, we've done our best to arrest those and to get them in jail and to get them properly prosecuted, i implore people, please protest. we're here to protect your rights, to protest. but you cannot block roadways. you cannot keep emergency personnel, whether it's ambulance or law enforcement, fire department, from getting out to assist other people. wondering if, after these

protests wrapped up, what kind of efforts were made to inspect to see if that other left anything behind or if they damaged the bridge or anything or anything like that? >> we noticed there was a gap in time between them and they were moved. and when traffic was allowed to move. so we were inspecting the roadway. no >> so what we were doing there is we had vehicles facing multiple directions because we had to come in wrong way. we had to make sure that all the vehicles were turned around, that we could open the roadway safely. and so the motoring public could move forward. so we had to get everything turned around and make sure there were no pedestrians on the roadway anymore. any of my officers, etc. was there an effort to see if there had been any sabotage or anything done to the bridge that could have damaged it, or we. yeah, we were out there for a long time. they would have it looked around. they would have watched. there was no indication that any damage was done to the bridge. everything was contained to the roadway. yes, sir. do you have any idea this was coming? so we had no specific intelligence. there was a decent

amount of intelligence about this day. but these specific protests? no, we did not have specific intelligence related to it. this is a lot more sophisticated. >> so if anyone can stop things before they start or with the whole idea driving on, connecting with the cement and everything else, just look. it's going to be too late every time. >> we will continue to do all we can in order to prevent this from happening, but once it's done, we will do all we can to clear the roadway as quickly as possible. to give you an understanding, the concrete barrels that were utilized, we have to use jackhammers and saws to cut, to basically break in and cut through those. thus, the reason it took a while to open up the roadway. it's complex on their part, it's complex on ours. and we did everything we could to open the roadway as quickly as we could to help put them out. correct? correct you you have to cut the cut the barrel. you got to jackhammer the concrete. and then you have

to basically cut the rebar that's in there in order to remove it. you can imagine how complex that is for our officers. i'm very impressed that they got it opened as quickly as they did, considering, what we had to do. >> chp chief don goodbrand talking about today's events and how the chp handled it, including the announcement of the charges that the protesters today who shut down the golden gate bridge and part of 8-80 will be facing, and there are several of them you can continue to watch this news conference on abc seven news.com. world news tonight with david muir is next and tonight, breaking news from here in tel aviv. the war cabinet meeting again in israel tonight, and now israel says it will respond, after iran's first ever direct attack on israel. and in the u.s. tonight, the first ever criminal trial involving a former president begins. and what's happened already in donald trump's trial? trump arriving for his criminal trial in new york, charged with 34 felony counts