An anti-Marxist protest planned for Wednesday morning that was supposedly going to involve the blocking of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge appears to be a hoax.
A Facebook post by the newly created group Conservative Rustles, as well as an email sent to several Bay Area media outlets, announced a planned 9 a.m. rally.
The organizer, purporting to be a 32-year-old San Francisco native named John Walters Monroe, said the group would block traffic "until the city of San Francisco agrees that 'Antifa' is a terrorist organization," referring to "anti-fascist" activists who have counter-protested at many right-wing rallies.
But Golden Gate Bridge spokeswoman Priya Clemens said that as of shortly after 9:30 a.m., no protesters or counter-protesters had showed up at the bridge.
"All clear! No one's shown up to protest or counter protest. Just Bridge Patrol, CHP and media out here," Clemens wrote in an email.
The Facebook event page created for the protest had zero people indicating they were interested in the march or planning to attend, but bridge patrol and California Highway Patrol officers nevertheless planned ahead in case anyone showed up.
Wednesday's event — or lack thereof — follows actions in San Francisco and Berkeley on Saturday and Sunday by right-wing groups.
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The San Francisco action Saturday organized by the conservative group Patriot Prayer was initially going to be a large rally at Crissy Field but also turned out to be much ado about nothing after being canceled Friday.
A subsequent news conference planned for Alamo Square on Saturday was also canceled at the last minute. The right-wing actions prompted large-scale counter-protests throughout San Francisco, including a "Peace, Love and Understanding" rally in Civic Center Plaza.
Sunday's event in Berkeley was mostly peaceful but had incidents of violence and police ended up making 13 arrests for offenses including assault, battery, resisting arrest, conspiracy, disturbing the peace, and being drunk in public.
