[ Early in the Trump administration ]
WHEN TEXAS PHOTOJOURNALIST Alexei Wood goes to court in Washington, D.C., on November 15, he’ll be one of the first people to face charges stemming from protests around the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Wood and five others are being charged for their alleged involvement in what prosecutors are describing as a riot on the morning of January 20, hours before Trump was sworn in at on the Capitol steps. All nine defendants face
up to 70 years in prison.
The case’s outcome could set a precedent that would affect all of the
over 200 remaining defendants awaiting trial for the “J20″ protests who face the same strict maximum sentence.
“The government doesn’t like this kind of activity in its city,” said Wood’s lawyer, Brett Cohen.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia did not respond to requests for comment, but information gleaned from the April 27 indictment indicates the sort of tactics the government will use against the defendants, who will be tried in staggered groups of around eight beginning November 15.
By charging everyone together with conspiracy counts, the government seems intent on making an example of the J20 protesters. “They’re prosecuting us as a group,” Wood said.
The government may attempt to force members of the same defense into a situation in which their aims conflict with one another. “Defendants have to be careful, regardless of how they feel about particular parts of the indictments, that the prosecution’s case not hurt their fellow co-defendants,” said Sam Menefee-Libey, spokesperson for the Dead City Legal Posse, a support network for J20 arrestees that provides housing, court support, and other services to assist in their navigation of the capital’s judicial system.
The conflation of the protesters as a whole with the alleged violent acts of a few in the crowd is worrying to Menefee-Libby. It would be a “radical departure” from a basic understanding of the law, Menefee-Libby said, if the government prosecutes people solely for their proximity to criminality. “Individuals can only be held responsible for their own behavior,” said Menefee-Libby, describing a fundamental tenet of the U.S. justice system.
That the government’s case does not differentiate between actors and bystanders could be an indication of future clampdowns on protest. “Even if we take the government at their word, that members of the protest had unlawful goals,” said attorney Shana Knizhnik, of the American Civil Liberties Union’s D.C. chapter, “it’s undeniable they also had lawful goals.”
THE LAWFUL AIM of the January 20 protesters was to exercise their First Amendment right to express dissatisfaction with the incoming Trump administration. With Trump’s standing as the
most unpopular incoming president in at least 40 years, it was unsurprising that the inauguration would be met with demonstrations.
Wood went to Washington to document that discontent, he told The Intercept. A full-time freelance photojournalist for the past three years, Wood’s work has a focus on resistance movements. He left his home in San Antonio, Texas, to travel to Washington and
report on events around the inauguration. “I was there to document whatever happened,” Wood said, adding that he had no idea of any planned actions. Wood livestreamed the protests on his phone and recorded them on a separate video camera.
The situation quickly turned chaotic. Some members of the protest crowd adopted black bloc tactics, hiding their identities and taking part in minor property destruction. “There were windows breaking, chemicals in the air,” said Alex Stokes, another journalist who was arrested on the January 20, though the charges against him were later dropped. “The cops didn’t seem to have any control over the situation.”
The Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement it could not offer comment on the specifics of pending litigation, but noted that there were “individuals who chose to engage in criminal acts, destroying property and hurling projectiles, injuring at least six officers.” The police added, “As with any pending criminal or civil matter, we will continue to support and respect the formal legal process. Moreover, all instances of use of force by officers and allegations of misconduct will be fully investigated.”
On Inauguration Day, the march moved through the city “with no real coordination,” said Stokes until demonstrators arrived at the intersection of L and 12th streets. The police then used a tactic known as kettling to trap the protesters in advance of
their arrest. “The cops blocked one end of the street and then followed us in from the other side,” said Stokes.
Stokes and Wood said hundreds of protesters — including journalists and legal observers — were caught in the kettle. “It was indiscriminate,” said Wood. A group of around 100 made a break for it and escaped, but the remaining group of over 230 were all arrested and locked up through the weekend. “Journalists, lawyers, the average protester: Those are the people they kettled, arrested, and charged with felony riot,” said Stokes. (Another journalist who faces charges, Aaron Cantú, has contributed to The Intercept, though he was not on assignment for the website on January 20.)
The felony charge came after 36 hours in lockup, said Wood. He added that, while detained, he heard that the government had a list of misdemeanors with which the protesters were going to be charged. While in custody, however, Wood was charged with a felony. Three months later, on April 27, a grand jury handed down a new indictment that added 13 additional counts.
(full article online)
Journalists, lawyers, and demonstrators alike were charged with conspiracy felonies for the "J20" protest of Donald Trump's Inauguration Day.
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