..."Felony Riot" Charges Against Inauguration Protesters Signal Dangerous Wave of Repression

[babylonsister]

In Trump's America, "Felony Riot" Charges Against Inauguration Protesters Signal Dangerous Wave of Repression
Tuesday, January 24, 2017 By Sarah Lazare, AlterNet | Report


Riot police hold a line against demonstrators attempting to block an entrance to the National Mall as they rally against the inauguration of Donald Trump as the US's 45th president, in Washington, January 20, 2017.Riot police hold a line against demonstrators attempting to block an entrance to the National Mall as they rally against the inauguration of Donald Trump as the US's 45th president, in Washington, January 20, 2017. (Photo: Victor J. Blue / The New York Times)


More than 200 people who were mass-arrested at the Washington, D.C. protests against the inauguration of Donald Trump have been hit with felony riot charges that are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Those picked up in the sweep -- including legal observers and journalists -- had their phones, cameras and other personal belongings confiscated as evidence, a lawyer confirmed to AlterNet.

Demonstrators warn that the crackdown signals a new wave of repression against the protesters, whose mass mobilization was met with riot police violence, National Guard and Department of Homeland Security deployments, heavy surveillance and law enforcement snipers positioned on rooftops.

"These charges are absolutely horrifying. They are just trying to stop any resistance to the Trump administration," Samantha Miller, an organizer with the Disrupt J20 Collective, told AlterNet. "Many of these demonstrators were showing rage and fear of what's coming. It's going to take a lot more than asking nicely to create change and stop the threats from the Trump administration."

The vast majority of the roughly 230 people who were kettled and mass-arrested at the anti-capitalist bloc during Friday's protests have been charged under the felony riot act, said Mark Goldstone, a National Lawyers Guild-affiliated attorney who has defended protesters in Washington, D.C. for more than 30 years. Washington, D.C. authorities put this number at 217. Goldstone confirmed to AlterNet that legal observers and journalists were among those detained in the sweep, explaining that, throughout his career in Washington, D.C., he has never seen mass charges of this kind.

Jeffrey Light, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer who provided legal support to the Disrupt J20 Collective, agreed with this assessment. "I have been representing protesters for 13 years now, and I have never seen felony rioting charges in Washington, D.C. It is not one of the standard laws that they tend to use. This is unusual. It is rare to use that charge."

"Across the board, all phones and cameras are being held as evidence, and they are also detaining gloves and cell phone chargers as evidence," said Light. "They are giving people their wallets back generally, but that's it. It is extremely troubling."

more...

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39196-in-trump-s-america-felony-riot-charges-against-inauguration-protesters-signal-dangerous-wave-of-repression

[Hekate]

1. KnR

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. This cant be for real...if it is, then America is gone.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Were these the brick tossing, limo burning protesters?

[jmg257]

5. Pretty sure - that is where the 217 arrests took place. The anarchist incidents.

[Ligyron]

6. 230 of them?

Naw...

[jmg257]

4. So is this a federal law or a DC city law?

Who makes the decision on what charges to pursue?

§ 22–1322. Rioting or inciting to riot.

(a) A riot in the District of Columbia is a public disturbance involving an assemblage of 5 or more persons which by tumultuous and violent conduct or the threat thereof creates grave danger of damage or injury to property or persons.

(b) Whoever willfully engages in a riot in the District of Columbia shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 180 days or a fine of not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, or both.

(c) Whoever willfully incites or urges other persons to engage in a riot shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 180 days or a fine of not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, or both.

(d) If in the course and as a result of a riot a person suffers serious bodily harm or there is property damage in excess of $5,000, every person who willfully incited or urged others to engage in the riot shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine of not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01, or both.

[rzemanfl]

9. So if five individuals each break $1,001 worth of windows, the person who incited the riot is guilty

of a felony. But the window breakers, if each acted on their own, are misdemeanants.

[FarCenter]

17. A single window would be anything from few hundred to a couple thousand dollars

It depends on size, quality, method of installation, plus the costs of any temporary boarding up of the business.

Four large storefront window easily reach $5000 total.

But the limo is over $5000 by itself.

Everyone involved in a crime is equally guilty. If a bank robber kills a guard inside the bank, the driver sitting in the street in the getaway car is guilty of murder.

[rzemanfl]

22. I know nothing about the cost of windows. I'm familiar with the felony murder rule.

What bothers me is the arrests of journalists.

[Solly Mack]

7. K&R

[Loge23]

8. We have to stop this.

It is not hyperbole or over-reaction that we are protesting this as vigorously as we are. This is our country! If the #IPOTUS's supporters can't see this than it is our duty to stop this madness.
They can't imprison all of us! The protests have to continue!

[GP6971]

14. Really?

Do you honestly think that and if so, why?

[GP6971]

20. You're answering a question with a question

major deflecting. So I ask again, Really?

[uppityperson]

21. A leading question at that

[HoneyBadger]

15. If you have every filed a car or home insurance claim, $1000 is an easy threshold

Scratch my cell phone and damage the backpack it is in, $1100 right there. I assume that store windows are easily $1k+ each.

A minute with a hammer and you are probably at $10k.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. I would remind people that the next day, between 500 and 750 THOUSAND people . . . . .

. . . . . . protested the same president just steps away from where these people were arrested. Out of that massive demonstration there were ZERO arrests. And wall to wall TV coverage. And admiration for the protesters.

That a few actual, factual rioters, rioting with face masks to hide their identity, throwing actual, factual bricks and burning an actual, factual limo got arrested, I should care? They were lawbreakers who, I can argue, were NOT on the side of what's right and good. They were on their own side and had their own agenda that I can argue do not align with the average protestor with whom I walked the very next day.

[we can do it]

13. Agree

[Mister Ed]

16. +1 n/t

[doc03]

12. There is a difference between protesting and destroying property. If

I go set my neighbors house on fire I go to prison.

[sarcasmo]

18. We have a Dictator not a President.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

23. Good. Throw as many anarchists in prison as they can.

All they do is sully our reputation and put people's lives at risk.

If they did the crime, they can do the time.

And if you read the crap they write, you will see how racist many of them are, as well.

[wiggs]

24. He MEANT it when he said Putin and Jong Un were great leaders. We didn't listen. nt