It was one of the most surprising demonstrations in Los Angeles by activists against Israel’s war in Gaza: The closure of the lanes on the southeast of the 110 freeway as it passes through the city.
In a tragic scene captured by helicopters, protesters sat down on the highway in December 2023, stopping traffic south of the Ilvel Interchange. On live television, angry motorists responded by getting into physical altercations with the demonstrators.
Los Angeles City atty. The Office of Hydee Feldstein Moto later charged many of the protesters with an illegal assembly, failure to disperse, failure to comply with an official order and obstruction of the street, road or other corridors.
On Monday, after a long legal battle, a judge agreed to put 29 protesters on probation for 12 months, requiring each to perform 20 hours of community service.
If they complete that service and comply with the law, the charges will be dismissed in October 2026, said Collen Flynn, the attorney for the protesters.
In court on Monday, Flynn praised his client for taking the stand, motivated by the moral duty to ‘bring to light the loss of life and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.’
“These are people who were there, out of conscience, taking the decision to engage in the risk of civil disobedience,” he told the Judge.
Two others charged in connection with the protest were granted judicial leave earlier this year and have since completed their community service. The charges against him were dismissed, Flynn said.
Flynn initially asked the 29 protesters to each receive eight hours of community service. City prosecutors successfully enforced a 20-hour curfew, saying the protest had no political motive if at all. Deputy City Attry. Brad Rothenberg told the judge that the freeway closure lasted four hours.
“That affected thousands of people who came to the second largest city in the United States to work,” he said.
The hearing brought an end to the bitter war.
Flynn spent several months pushing the case to be dismissed, arguing that Feldstein Soto’s decision to charge the protesters had been found in “unlawful reading – – Religious or ethnic discrimination against the Palestinians and their supporters.
In several hearings, Flynn said his clients faced a different approach than other protesters who disrupted traffic but were highlighting different political issues, such as higher wages for hotel workers. Flynn also pointed to a social media post by Feldstein Soto on Oct 7, 2023, the day Hamas-Led Micitants attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping another 250 people.
“Every nation and every person of good morals must support Israel in protecting its people,” said Feldstesttein Soto on his @electhydee page.
Last month, a judge denied Flynn’s request to dismiss the case. In that case, prosecutors said the protesters were charged because they blocked the highway, posing a threat to public safety.
Prosecutors said the motorcycle was traveling between lanes of traffic at high speed and was plowing into Freeway protesters who were sitting in the ditch.
Prosecutors also defended FEDSTEIN SOTO’s press releases, saying they were written on the day of the attack, before Israel silenced its opponent. At the time, Feldsteintein Soto was showing the anger of a horrific day of violence, prosecutors said.
Since then, Israel’s operation in Gaza has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
