Anti-War Protestors Arrested on Golden Gate Bridge

KCBS
Jan. 02, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Ten anti-war protestors from the women’s peace group CodePink were arrested after a three-hour standoff with police on the Golden Gate Bridge. The group started a rally around noon, gathering on both sides of the bridge, but police stopped members from walking across the span because they lacked a permit.

According to Bridge District Spokeswoman Mary Currie, CodePink applied for the permit, but didn’t agree with the provision prohibiting them from carrying signs.

"We limit and generally don't allow any signs out on the bridge because they're very distracting and can create motor vehicle incidents. I think it was something along those lines that they didn't want to cooperate with," she said.

"In October when they did approach us for a permit, we did put the permit into motion. But in the 11th hour they chose to not sign off on the terms of the permit and basically went out onto the bridge and disrupted in gridlock traffic during the peak commute period.”

Foot and bicycle traffic across the bridge was halted by the standoff. The demonstration was the second CodePink even on the bridge without a permit. The planned march was part of a vigil to honor the more than 3,000 troops killed in Iraq.