The Government Is Dropping All Charges In The Remaining Inauguration Day Prosecutions
After several trials, prosecutors were unable to secure any convictions. Of the 234 people arrested, 21 people pleaded guilty.
www.buzzfeed.com/zoetillman/the-government-is-dropping-all-charges-in-the-remaining?utm_term=.ssQ7GxxDD#.gbRqvGGww
There were numerous protests across Washington on Trump's inauguration day, and most were peaceful and did not result in any arrests. But a protest that had been advertised as an "anti-capitalist" and "anti-fascist" demonstration turned violent at times, with some individuals breaking the windows of stores and cars. Police eventually surrounded the demonstration and made mass arrests.
Many of the people arrested, however, said they did not break windows, and argued they should not be liable for those who did. They disputed the government's theory that by wearing all black and covering their faces — prosecutors characterized it as a "black bloc," a protest strategy used to avoid identification by law enforcement — they were criminally responsible for the property destruction.
A DC Superior Court jury fully acquitted the first trial group in December. Then, prosecutors dismissed 129 cases, saying they would focus on the most serious offenders. While the second trial was underway last month, the government dropped seven more cases after getting in trouble with a judge for how prosecutors handled evidence.
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The government had also been sanctioned by a judge for not disclosing to the defense the full version of a video of a pre-Jan. 20 planning meeting recorded by an operative of Project Veritas, a right-wing investigative organization. The disclosure of the full version of that video led to the discovery of other Project Veritas videos that hadn't been disclosed to the defense.
One of the remaining defendants whose case was dismissed Friday was Aaron Cantú, a journalist who said he was arrested while covering the demonstrations. Press freedom groups had raised alarms about the government's decision to prosecute him. Cantú's lawyer Ted Boutrous tweeted a statement saying they were "gratified that the baseless charges against him have been dismissed."