Another busy day is planned at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in downtown San Francisco, with Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk scheduled to speak at the CEO summit. Also happening today is the APEC Annual Ministerial Meeting Leaders' Plenary.
Even before the westbound Bay Bridge was blocked by protesters at the height of the Thursday commute, Mayor London Breed warned that traffic would get snarled across San Francisco as motorcades pass through the city. And the Warriors play the Thunder in San Francisco tonight, so if you’re attending, here’s how to get to Chase Center. There will also be street closures around the Legion of Honor starting around noon.
Latest updates:
CHP reopens westbound I-80 approach to Bay Bridge
The westbound approach to the Bay Bridge from Interstate 80 has been reopened by the CHP along with the Powell Street on-ramp to the bridge. Caltrans cameras show traffic beginning to flow into the toll plaza for the first time in three hours.
All lanes now open but entrances to bridge still shut
The bridge was fully reopened at 11:40 a.m., according to the CHP, just short of four hours after law enforcement received first reports of the protest that closed the bridge. However, the toll plaza and westbound approaches remain closed.
What it was like to be stuck on the bridge
Milinda Kendrick, who commutes from Walnut Creek into San Francisco every day, got on the Bay Bridge around 7:15 a.m. and has barely moved since. She watched protesters run up and down the bridge with flags and said some handed out breakfast bars to drivers. Kendrick did not take one of the bars, but said she was both hungry and anxious to get to work.
Kendrick stayed in her car and called into some work meetings remotely, but others got out of their cars to stretch. "Its almost like working from home," she said.
Initially, traffic had stopped moving after she passed the bridge toll booth, and she was confused why no one was moving. Eventually, she saw the protesters, and some other drivers got of their cars to explain what was going on.
Entrances to Bay Bridge westbound remain closed
Though stuck traffic is slowly moving off the bridge, the toll plaza remains closed and access to the bridge is closed. It is unclear when the entrances will reopen.
Bridge protest shutdown is third in seven years
Protesters’ shutdown of the Bay Bridge’s westbound lanes Thursday morning was at least the third time in the last seven years that protests have caused major disruptions on the span. About two dozen Black Lives Matter protesters brought Bay Bridge westbound traffic to a standstill for two hours on a Sunday afternoon in June 2020. The protest happened weeks after the death of George Floyd spurred protests of police brutality across the country. Authorities also arrested 25 Black Lives Matter protesters in January 2016 after they chained themselves together to halt westbound bridge traffic for an hour.
Meanwhile at APEC, Biden weaves through city to Moscone
A swarm of motorcycles, their lights flashing red and blue, announced President Biden’s motorcade Thursday morning as it sped through the vehicle exclusion zone outside the Moscone Center shortly before 11:30 a.m. The President was visible to spectators through the windows of his limousine, an armored behemoth known as the “Beast” that is outfitted with eight-inch doors and bulletproof tires. In addition to a coterie of advisors traveling with the President, the motorcade included an ambulance, police cruisers, more than a dozen black U.S. Secret Service vehicles and the traveling communications hub — topped with a giant satellite antenna — known as the “Roadrunner.”
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Two lanes of Bay Bridge now open; others could open in “minutes”
More than three hours after the protest began, two lanes of the Bay Bridge westbound are now open, allowing the cars stuck on the bridge to move through the protest area. Police are moving reporters off the bridge, they are hoping to open the whole bridge shortly: “It’s a matter of minutes,” they said around 11 a.m.
Bay Bridge commuters allege wrongful arrests amid protest
Two people who claimed to be near the protest but not involved with it said they were wrongfully arrested. Lauren Tompson, a professor of physics at Stanford, emphasized that she complied with police orders to return to her car every time they instructed her to do so.
Meanwhile, Masoud Barukzai, who said he was en route to the San Francisco airport for work, attributed his arrest to his appearance rather than wrongdoing. He asserted that he had merely stepped out of his car to observe the unfolding events because “we were all doing that” and got caught up in the police activity.
Barukzai said he didn’t know anything about the planned protest. “As a citizen, this is absolutely disgusting, to be stripped of my rights,” he said.
Tompkins added that she was apprehended after she criticized police for arresting someone who displayed the Palestinian flag on the trunk of their car. “It shouldn’t be illegal in America to possess a flag,” she said.
Charges protesters could face
Under a California law that has been applied to past traffic protests, it is a crime to “willfully and maliciously obstruct the free movement of any person on any street, sidewalk, or other public place.”
Violations are misdemeanors punishable by up to six months in jail. Stiffer penalties can be imposed if a protest causes traffic accidents or injuries.
Other possible charges include trespassing, failure to disperse, and resisting lawful orders, said Laurie Levenson, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
With Bay Bridge closed, traffic backs up around other spans
With the Bay Bridge still closed, drivers are shifting to the Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo bridges where the backups are unusually deep for late on a weekday morning. In Richmond, the backup extends past 23rd Street as drivers head to the span then to the Golden Gate Bridge to get to San Francisco. Traffic is flowing freely across the Golden Gate. The San Mateo Bridge is also backed up, according to 511, with the worst backups at Interstate 880 where the approach to the bridge begins. Traffic is moving slowly across the entire span.
Bay Bridge has now been blocked for about three hours
Many drivers have been stuck on the bridge for close to three hours as the cars slowly trickle past the protest area. When the bridge will fully reopen, and new cars can come onto the bridge, remains unclear. The two lanes the CHP is working to reopen still have not reopened yet, as of 10:45 a.m.
Latest scene on the bridge
The scene at 10:30 a.m.: Police had ziptied the hands of at least 16 protesters. They are gathered, sitting against a concrete wall as police wait for more transport. Two San Francisco Sheriff’s buses with protesters have already driven off. There are more than 100 police officers on the bridge, many in riot gear. A tow truck is hauling away vehicles that protesters had abandoned. Cars are still trickling through on the shoulder and two lanes are being prepared to re-open to get stuck vehicles off the bridge, but they are still not opened yet.
Police working to open up two more lanes
In addition to the shoulder, two more lanes of the Bay Bridge are being reopened, though they are not open yet.
CHP “going to press all charges we can”
The California Highway Patrol says it is “going to press all the charges it can” against the protesters who blocked the Bay Bridge. At least 50 protesters have been arrested, a spokesman said, and another 15-20 arrests are likely.
A few cars getting through on shoulder
A dribble of cars is now getting through on the westbound span — via the shoulder. There are still police cars parked on the upper deck, with police standing outside their cars.
In terms of the protesters, one person is getting loaded into a car right now, handcuffed with zip ties. Another was loaded into a patty wagon.
CHP looking for more abandoned vehicles
The California Highway Patrol is looking for abandoned vehicles it says protesters left in the backup, throwing their keys into the bay so that they couldn’t be easily removed, the CHP said. At least 15 vehicles have been towed and at least five and possibly as many as 20 more will need to be towed. As of around 10:05 a.m., the CHP hopes to reopen at least one lane across the bridge within minutes.
CHP anticipated bridge problems but protesters were too quick
CHP officers anticipated the possibility of a protest blocking the Bay Bridge — it’s one of the reasons one lane of the bridge has been closed in each direction — but that a handful of cars carried it off in seconds. CHP officers responded “within minutes,” a CHP officer said.
CHP hopes to reopen one lane around 10-10:15 a.m.
The California Highway Patrol said it hopes to reopen at least one lane of the Bay Bridge by 10 or 10:15 a.m. So far, 50 protesters have been arrested and 15 vehicles towed. Protesters are throwing their keys into the bay to make it harder for vehicles to be removed, according to a CHP spokesperson. Arrests are ongoing, with another 15-20 more are likely, according to Commander David Hoff.
Traffic moving slowly eastbound as westbound lanes remain shut
Traffic is moving slowly eastbound on the western span of the bridge. It’s stop and go, with speeds topping out at 15 miles per hour.
All protesters arrested, NBC reports
NBC reports that all protesters have been arrested and officers are working to clear their vehicles.
More officers arriving on bridge
Dozens more law enforcement officers — police as well as CHP — are arriving on the Bay Bridge, according to live video from KTVU. Some of the officers are wearing riot gear.
Eastbound bridge backup extends back to S.F.
While the protest closing the Bay Bridge is in the westbound lanes before Treasure Island, traffic has backed up in the eastbound lanes and is moving slowly. The backup extends through San Francisco on I-80 and Highway 101 to near Bernal Heights.
Protesters being arrested on bridge
Live video from KTVU on the Bay Bridge shows CHP officers methodically and calmly arresting protesters, cuffing their wrists behind their backs with zip ties and placing them against a concrete barrier on the side of the bridge. The arrests appear to be peaceful.
What protesters are doing on the bridge
Videos from Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the groups participating in the protest, show dozens of protesters milling around, some lying on the ground wrapped in bloodied sheets, pretending to be dead in a protest known as a “die in.”. Others are chained together with arms in tubes to make it more difficult to remove them. Large signs reading “Stop Genocide” and “No US Military Aid” have been strung from the cables of the eastern span of the bridge.
Eastbound Bay Bridge slow
Cars are moving slowly on the eastbound Bay bridge span. Though that direction is not blocked by protesters, emergency vehicles are parked along the western side of the bridge.
Drivers getting out of their cars, CHP reports
The crowd surrounding protesters on the Bay Bridge is growing, according to the California Highway Patrol, as some of the drivers stuck in their cars are getting out to see what’s happening. It’s unclear how many of those milling around are protesters and how many are observers.
Drivers stuck on Bay Bridge post their frustrations
Commuters trapped in traffic on the Bay Bridge expressed their frustration on X. “Was hoping to make our flight at SFO but looks doubtful now,” Jason Swartz wrote. Mudit Goyal wrote on X that he was “missing the most important” doctor appointment because of the protests blocking the bridge. “Don’t terrorize the whole public. Go make noise near Moscone instead,” Goyal tweeted. Moscone has been the site of several protests since the start of the APEC summit.
Protesters reportedly warned to disperse
Protesters block traffic on the westbound lanes of the Bay Bridge on Thursday, November 16.
CaltransAccording to accounts on from social media and video from KTVU, which has a camera person on scene, the CHP has issued a legally required order to disperse and has started arresting people.
In addition to protesters with arms locked together, several protesters, wrapped in white sheets, are lying on the ground. Others are carrying protest signs.
No estimate on when bridge will reopen
According to the California Highway Patrol, about 50 protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, will be ordered to disperse and be arrested if they don’t. Several of the protesters have chained their arms together, inside tubes, to make it harder to get them to move. While the protesters are chained together, they’re not chained to bridge, said Officer Art Montiel.
Dozens of CHP units, including a special team equipped with gear to cut chains, have responded to the protest, creating a sea of flashing red and blue lights on the bridge. Montiel said the CHP would act quickly to remove the protesters but had no estimate on how long that would take.
CHP and Caltrans are advising drivers to avoid the Bay Bridge. Drivers stuck on the bridge will not be turned around. Montiel said, and will have to wait on the span until the protesters are removed.
Massive traffic backup extends to Richmond
With the westbound lanes of the Bay Bridge closed, Google Maps is showing traffic on the east side of the Bay as red headed westbound all the way to Richmond.
What Bay Bridge protesters are doing
Observers stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge said that several protesters stopped their cars on the Bay Bridge, westbound just east of Treasure Island. They reportedly got out of their cars and a number of protesters chained themselves together, locking their arms together inside tubes — a common protest tactic. They unfurled a yellow and red banner reading “Ceasefire” and placed it on the bridge deck.
Traffic camera photos from the bridge show that several CHP cars have arrived on the scene.
Gaza protesters block Bay Bridge near Treasure Island
Protesters, who tangled the streets around the Moscone Center on Wednesday, have moved to the Bay Bridge Thursday morning where they blocked westbound traffic just east of Treasure island, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said the action started shortly before 8 a.m. but that it was unsure how many protesters were on the bridge blocking traffic. Multiple CHP units were responding to the scene, a spokesperson said.
Pro-Palestine protesters claimed responsibility for the shutdown in a post on Instagram, saying they were sending a message to President Joe Biden to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. — Michael Cabanatuan
Xi hopes S.F. can help improve Chinese-U.S. relations
Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech that he hoped San Francisco and California will continue to play key roles in strengthening relations between the U.S. and China, noting the city’s historical and cultural ties to his country.
“San Francisco has borne witness to exchanges between the Chinese and American peoples for over a century. A hundred and fifty-eight years ago, a large number of Chinese workers came all the way to the United States to build the first transcontinental railroad, and established in San Francisco the oldest Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere,” Xi said, according to a translated transcript.
In his speech, Xi said his first visit to the U.S. in 1985 began in San Francisco, where he took a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge.
VP Harris’ last day at APEC
Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to speak at the APEC Women’s Economic Participation in the Industries of the Future meeting Thursday afternoon, ahead of a 4 p.m. convening of the APEC Business Advisory Council at Moscone Center, White House officials said.
Shortly after, Harris was scheduled to deliver remarks at a campaign reception in Piedmont before leaving for Los Angeles.
What happens when your wedding is in the APEC security zone?
When Anna Schirripa and Juniper Breese began planning their wedding in the summer of 2022, they didn’t expect they would have to call the U.S. Secret Service — or that their guests would have to pass through a tight security perimeter, have their vehicles and belongings inspected and make sure to bring their invitations.
But a month ago they found out that their venue, the University Club of San Francisco, a historic building with sweeping city views, was going to be in the middle of the APEC security zone in Nob Hill. So to try to figure out if and how they’d be able to move forward with their wedding planned for Saturday, they found themselves dialing up the Secret Service San Francisco field office.
The couple got some answers from the agency but were told they may not know until Saturday how the event will impact their nuptials, so they may be scrambling to adjust all the way to the end.
APEC in San Francisco
Biden to spend much of the day at Moscone Center
President Biden is scheduled to give remarks to the APEC CEO summit at 10: 45 a.m. Thursday, with a working lunch at 12:15 p.m. An APEC dinner hosted by Biden and First Lady Jill Biden is planned for the Legion of Honor museum Thursday evening.
Biden will depart San Francisco for Philadelphia on Friday.
APEC fireworks stun S.F.
President Joe Biden gestures as he watches fireworks during a welcome reception for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative leaders at the Exploratorium, in San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov, 15, 2023.
Doug Mills/Associated PressA flurry of spectacular fireworks stunned San Francisco residents Wednesday evening with their booming sounds. The fireworks came from a Gwen Stefani performance for President Biden and other leaders at a reception at the Exploratorium.
Street closures and transit impacts today
Mayor London Breed has warned that today may be the worst for traffic in San Francisco, as motorcades are expected to pass through the city from north to south using various routes. Street closures and traffic impacts near Moscone Center and on Nob Hill, where President Joe Biden is staying, remain “in full effect.”
Lane closures on the Bay Bridge continue, as do many other road closures around downtown San Francisco. As with yesterday, Muni routes, including cable cars and some Metro lines, will be rerouted or curtailed. Bikes will be redirected around secured areas, and some pedestrians will have to reconfigure their usual walking routes.
Streets near the Legion of Honor will be affected starting at noon. San Francisco International Airport is likely to be impacted on Friday as a crush of APEC attendees depart to their home regions.
See more on how to navigate the transit mess.
What happened on Wednesday
Yesterday was a big day as heated protests sprawled throughout the city, and President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping agreed to curb illicit fentanyl production.
Demonstrators representing No2Apec, which participants described as a coalition of 150 anti-war, climate and labor organizations, hoped to obstruct meetings between world leaders at the heavily secured Moscone Center on Wednesday morning. One man purported to be an APEC volunteer punched a female protester while trying to leave a security zone.
Clashes between pro- and anti-China groups intensified as the day wore on, with shoving matches and flags stomped on as law enforcement tried to intervene. Police had to set up barricades wherever the two groups clashed.
Biden and Chinese President Xi spent four hours together yesterday at the Filoli estate, and according to a U.S. official, they agreed to curb illicit fentanyl production and to reopen military ties.
The APEC CEO Summit kicked off yesterday and featured speeches from CEOs of Microsoft, ExxonMobil and Uber, and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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APEC in SF: Bay Bridge on-ramps still shut 4 hours after protest began - San Francisco Chronicle
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