Police detained protesters who occupied the first floor of the Israeli consulate in San Francisco’s financial district on Monday.
Shortly after 9 a.m., about 70 protesters gathered at the building at 456 Montgomery St., home to Israel’s Consulate General in the Pacific Northwest.
“Officers warned the individuals multiple times to disperse and leave the private property on their own,” San Francisco police said in a statement at 12:30 p.m.
Police detain protesters, who are charged with trespassing, and by 1:10 p.m. about 20 people had been led out of the building and loaded into a police van.
The protesters first posted photos on social media shortly after 9 a.m., from Israel’s Consulate General to the Pacific Northwest.
The photos show demonstrators holding banners that read “Zionism kills” and “Committing a genocide makes Jews less safe; not in my name!’
The video posted to chanted.
Jeff Chiu/AP
Consul General Marco Sermoneta issued this statement to CBS News Bay Area after the demonstration:
“We are shocked, but not surprised, by the attempt by a handful of pro-Hamas rioters to violently compromise our ability to operate as a diplomatic mission. They will not succeed.
The people who entered the lobby of the building where the consulate is located are the same people who celebrated the rape, mutilation, burning alive and murder of hundreds of Israelis just a day after October 7.
Since then, these gangs have made Bay Area campuses inhospitable and even dangerous for Jews, and turned city council meetings into a vile spectacle of anti-Semitism and mass atrocity denial.
We thank SFPD for their quick response and will continue to ensure we provide all services as usual.”
