LOS ANGELES — Thirty-one pro-Palestinian activists facing charges related to blocking traffic on the 110 freeway in Dec. 2023 are accusing Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto of bias against their cause, seeking to have the case dismissed.

On Monday, the City Attorney’s office was forced to hand over all records, including memos, emails, text messages on Feldstein Soto’s official and personal accounts regarding the case, after Judge Mark Windham found “some evidence” of biased prosecution.

The protester’s lawyer, Colleen Flynn, is currently reviewing the records. Her clients are all members of IfNotNow, a movement of Jewish Americans pursuing Palestinian rights. The 2023 Hannukah protest called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, according to spokesperson Mel, who asked to only use her first name when discussing the case.

“We were definitely surprised about the charges being filed,” Mel said.

Peaceful demonstrators are almost never charged in Los Angeles, even for blocking traffic, according to Flynn, who has represented traffic-blocking protesters for 25 years and said activists are typically told to meet with a hearing officer and allowed to keep a clean criminal record if they stay out of trouble.

“The only cases we’ve seen where protesters have been filed-on recently are pro-Palestine protests,” Flynn said.

In court, Flynn pointed to a now-deleted tweet by Feldstein Soto after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas that condemned the attack and added, “Every nation and every moral person must support Israel in defending her people.”

Spectrum News tried to speak to Feldstein Soto about the bias allegations outside her first press conference since the January fires, but she declined to take time to answer questions.

“I was supposed to be out of here at one o’clock. I have back-to-back meetings,” Feldstein Soto said as she walked away. “I typically don’t comment on pending litigation.”

Months before the protest by IfNotNow, Unite Here Local 11 blocked traffic outside LAX for hours, advocating for hotel workers’ rights. Nearly 200 protesters, including city leaders like Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, participated. While many were placed in handcuffs, no one was ultimately charged for the demonstration. 

In court, the City Attorney’s office could only name one other protester facing charges for blocking traffic during Feldstein Soto’s tenure, according to a recent order by Judge Windham.

In calling for Feldstein Soto to turn over her records about the case, Judge Windham said he saw “no evidence” the city had an updated policy to charge non-violent protesters for blocking traffic.

Judge Windham’s order also acknowledged allegations from the former chief of the office’s criminal branch, Michelle McGinnis, that Feldstein-Soto sought to use the office to prosecute a well-known pro-Palestinian activist after a 2023 protest outside the home of a pro-Israel lobbyist.

“When the social media posts are considered in tandem with Ms. McGinnis’s assertion of an unwarranted prosecution of a pro-Palestinian protester because of the City Attorney’s political beliefs, the inference of animus against the pro-Palestinian protests does constitute some evidence of intent,” Windham wrote.

When asked directly about the bias allegations, Feldstein Soto denied the accusations.

“I would never prosecute on content, ma’am, you know that,” Feldstein Soto said, before getting in a car and shutting the door.