A California lawmaker is calling the pro-Palestinian protests that took place on the Golden Gate Bridge earlier this week “unacceptable” and said the protesters who trapped drivers and first responders for hours need to be held accountable to “the fullest extent of the law.”
Republican Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez, who represents California’s 71st district, said the protests were not only disrupting people’s everyday lives, but possibly seriously threatening the safety of the city.
“These protests are not just impeding someone getting to work on time, but they’re impeding, potentially, first responders from getting to the scene of an emergency or taking someone that needs help immediately,” Sanchez said.
“They are impeding them, not just for a few minutes, which could be the difference between life or death, they are impeding them for hours and hours on end,” she continued.
While Sanchez said she believes in the right to protest and free speech, the lawmaker claimed the extent to which these protesters went is “unacceptable.”
“There has to be more productive, thoughtful ways because we don’t want to hurt anyone that needs medical, necessary medical attention, from getting it,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez introduced AB 2742 this year, which increases the penalties for people blocking pathways of emergency vehicles that are flashing sirens and within 1000 feet of them.
“If it’s $100, double it to $200, up to $1,000. Nothing egregious. It would just give people more tools in the toolbox to hold protesters accountable. And I think that’s a very reasonable ask,” she said of the bill.
“When you’re talking about potentially stopping people from being able to get to emergency medical needs, right? It’s less than a speeding ticket nowadays. So, I feel like asking just to double the penalty or the fines necessary to show them we are more serious about what you’re doing, and please do it somewhere else, I don’t think that’s asking too much at all,” Sanchez continued.
