The Olympic Torch made its only United States stop in San Francisco on April 9, 2008, traveling on its way to Beijing for the 2008 summer games. Several organizations protested the event, and the Torch's path was eventually shortened to six miles. Protesters, including members of Students for a Free Tibet, cited China's record on civil rights and their suppression of Tibetan independence as reason to protest the International Olympic Committee's approval of Beijing as the Games' host city.

On April 7, 2008, three protesters climbed cables on the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled a banner urging China to "free Tibet." The protesters were affiliated with Students for a Free Tibet.

• LiveVideo: Olympic Torch reaches San Francisco
• LiveVideo: Protesters scale Golden Gate Bridge (Time: 0:33)
• Topix.net: Olympic Torch San Francisco
• Google News: Olympic Torch San Francisco
• ABC News: S.F. Closing Torch Ceremony Canceled (April 9, 2008)
• San Francisco Chronicle: Torch route drasitcally changed to thwart hordes of protestors (April 9, 2008)
  • San Francisco resident Nancy Chan: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us to see the torch. There is a lot of politics around it, but that is the great thing about America - the free speech."
• AFP: Olympic torch protest draws international icons to San Francisco (April 9, 2008)
  • Richard Gere spoke to the demonstrators, reading a letter from the Dalai Lama which called angry or violent reactions to China "futile and not helpful to create hate in the hearts of Chinese people."
• New York Sun: Olympic Protests Mount in San Francisco (April 9, 2008)
• San Jose Mercury News: Route of the Olympic torch in San Francisco (April 6, 2008)
• San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Asians fret over insult to Olympic torch (April 6, 2008)
• The Epoch Times: San Franciscans: China must clean up its act (April 6, 2008)
• AFP: Tibet protesters scale Golden Gate Bridge before torch run (April 7, 2008)
• NPR: Activists Target San Francisco's Olympic Torch Visit (March 28, 2008)
• Los Angeles Times: S.F. wrangles over Olympic torch appearance (April 2, 2008)
  • The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8 to 3 to greet the torch with "alarm and protest." The Chinese consulate called this measure hurtful to the Chinese people and "an insult to the torch relay."