OAKLAND, CA – A 26-year-old California resident has been charged with assaulting federal officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon after allegedly accelerating a U-Haul truck toward United States Coast Guard personnel near Coast Guard Island, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Federal prosecutors say Brendan Munro Thompson, also known as Bella Thompson and Bella Castillo, drove a U-Haul onto the bridge connecting Oakland to Coast Guard Island around 10 p.m. on October 23, 2025. Coast Guard personnel were stationed on the bridge while demonstrators gathered nearby to protest the potential deployment of Department of Homeland Security officers to San Francisco.
According to court documents, Thompson reversed the truck toward Coast Guard personnel multiple times before rapidly accelerating backward. As the vehicle came within 15 to 20 feet of the officers, personnel shouted for Thompson to stop. When the vehicle continued moving, Coast Guard personnel fired their weapons.
Thompson fled the scene and later received treatment for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
“As alleged, Thompson drove a U-Haul truck directly into a line of Coast Guard personnel who were protecting the Coast Guard base,” said U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian. “There is zero tolerance for assault on federal officers or property.”
The FBI investigated the case, with Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo stating that attempting to use a truck to assault federal officers “is a violent and serious federal crime.”
Thompson faces one count of assaulting federal officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 10, 2025.
