On Thursday (Dec. 21), a trial Jury concluded that six inauguration activists were not guilty, despite the violence committed, on all charges in relation to President Trump’s Inauguration Day protest in Washington, D.C., BuzzFeed News reported.
The trial was for six of the 200 protesters who have been charged, during the Trump inauguration on Jan. 20, that became violent, resulting in property damage and injuries.The untimely and disastrous decision by the jury is a triumphant win, not just for the six defendants and their legal advisors, but for other anti-Trump activists.
It appears the decision has now activated the premises that one can protest and cause violence and still get away with it. The anti-Trump movement believes that the government and law enforcement extended an overreach of their rights and worried that this case signaled a new era of criminalizing political opposition.
An inquiry moving forward will be enacted if the exoneration prompts the administration to drop any cases or charges or if prosecutors will press ahead as arranged. In an announcement, in any case, the US Lawyer's Office proposed it wanted to advance the undertaking with the remaining pending charges against the other defendants through a jury trial.
When one of the defendants, Alexei Wood, was questioned about the jury verdict, he told BuzzFeed News in a text message: "F*** them so hard."
US Attorney’s office in D.C. Statement
In a statement by the US Attorney’s office in D.C., spokesman Bill Miller stated in-part that he believes that the evidence proves that a riot did, in fact, occur on Inauguration Day, in which numerous public and private properties were damaged and/or destroyed.
Miller further stated that our criminal justice process confirms that every offender is judged based on his or her personal conduct and intent.
Miller went on to say that the US Attorney’s office values the jury’s close analysis of the individual conduct and intent of each defendant throughout this trial and value its verdict by this jury.
In the remaining pending cases, I look forward to the same laborious evaluation for each of the defendants.
Court case penalties
During the following months after the Inauguration Day event, prosecutors dropped charges against 20 individuals and achieved plea bargains by 20 others. One of those defendants, Dane Powell, has conceded to a lawful offense, but the rest have admitted to misdemeanors. At this point, Powell is the only individual so far to get a sentence of prison time, in which he was sentenced to serve four months in jail.
The jury started deliberating on December 15 as the six defendants faced seven charges. Of those charges, five were felony counts of property destruction along with two misdemeanor counts of engaging in a riot and the conspiracy to riot.
Those felonies carried maximum penalties of 10 years in jail and a $25,000 fine while the misdemeanors carry a maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Earlier this year, the ACLU filed a civil lawsuit against D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, asserting that they used excessive force in responding to the protests on Inauguration Day. As of now, that particular case is pending. The remaining trials and jury selection for the rest of the accused are planned throughout 2018.
