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-- OriginalOwner_ [tinyurl.com] writes:

The Intercept reports [theintercept.com]

On [December 21], a jury acquitted six defendants charged with felonies stemming from their arrests at protests surrounding Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20. The acquittal is a blow to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia: a jury rebuke in the first tranche of 194 defendants [that] the government is seeking to collectively punish for the acts of a handful of individuals.

[...]The defendants had been arrested in Washington on Inauguration Day when police corralled more than 200 people, many of them demonstrating under the banner of "DisruptJ20". The government eventually charged hundreds of people in connection with a small amount of property damage committed by a few individuals. Prosecutors sought to use a novel approach to group liability in the case to charge the defendants with an array of crimes--a tactic critics of the prosecution have said runs the risk of criminalizing dissent and poses a threat to the First Amendment.

[...]Although the jury had lots of careful discussion over the past three days, a juror who only gave his name as Steve told the media collective Unicorn Riot [twitter.com] it was not ultimately a close call. "The prosecution admitted the morning of day one that they would present no evidence that any of the defendants committed any acts of violence or vandalism", Steve said. "From that point, before the defense ever uttered a sound, it was clear to me that ultimately we would find everyone not guilty."

[...]Instead of presenting evidence that any of the six personally engaged in property destruction, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff argued that by showing up to the march in black, moving through the streets with the group, and chanting anti-capitalist slogans, the defendants had willfully associated with a "riot". The government charged the six with misdemeanor rioting, misdemeanor conspiracy to riot, and five felony counts of property destruction, charges which carry a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.

[...]"Today's verdict reaffirms two central constitutional principles of our democracy: first, that dissent is not a crime, and second, that our justice system does not permit guilt by association", said Scott Michelman, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Washington, D.C. chapter, in a statement [aclu.org] applauding the verdict. "We hope today's verdict begins the important work of teaching police and prosecutors to respect the line between lawbreaking and constitutionally protected protest."

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