Suspect charged with assaulting Coast Guard personnel during San Francisco Bay Area immigration enforcement protest
By Carlos E. Castañeda
Prosecutors have charged a person who allegedly accelerated a truck toward officers at a Coast Guard base in the San Francisco Bay Area, prompting a barrage of gunfire during an immigration enforcement protest last month.
Brendan Munro Thompson, who also uses the names Bella Thompson and Bella Castillo, is charged with assaulting federal officers at Coast Guard Base Alameda with a deadly or dangerous weapon. Thompson made an initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday morning, according to a press statement from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Craig Missakian.
Coast Guard security personnel were standing guard at the entrance to the base on Oct. 23, also known as Coast Guard Island, a man-made island in the Oakland Estuary separating Alameda and Oakland, during protests against a planned federal immigration enforcement surge in the San Francisco Bay Area that was later called off. Following a day-long protest, people were still gathered at the bridge connecting Oakland to the Coast Guard base when Thompson drove a U-Haul truck onto the bridge about 10 p.m., according to the complaint filed on Oct. 30 and unsealed on Tuesday.
The complaint alleges that Thompson backed the truck onto the bridge toward Coast Guard security personnel positioned in a line across the bridge, prompting them to back away. Video showed the truck then accelerated rapidly backward towards the officers, who shouted orders to the driver to stop.
The truck accelerated an estimated 15 to 20 feet, which caused the Coast Guard personnel to fear being struck or that it contained explosives, the complaint said. Officers then opened fire, shooting dozens of rounds at the truck, which then drove away. Thompson was later treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot injury sustained during the incident.
“As alleged, Thompson drove a U-Haul truck directly into a line of Coast Guard personnel who were protecting the Coast Guard base, as they bravely do day in and day out,” said Missakian. “Let this be clear: there is zero tolerance for assault on federal officers or property, and those who do so will face federal criminal charges.”
Thompson’s next federal court appearance for a status on detention and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 10. If convicted, Thompson faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, although any sentence would take federal sentencing guidelines into consideration.
