Just a friendly reminder that @berkeleypolice tweeting names & pictures of people arrested at a protest who have not yet been charged with any crimes (much less convicted) is nothing more than an attempt at chilling free speech & dissuading participation in future demonstrations.
Most of the people arrested today have arraignments set for more than a month from now. That’s more than a month before we’ll even know whether the District Attorney *thinks* there’s grounds to actually pursue charges against any of them.
In most of these cases, charges are never filed. People arrested are kept waiting and walking on eggshells for a year, until the statute of limitations expires, and they can no longer be charged. The DA tends to not file charges, but also doesn’t dismiss them outright.
This is an “informal” form of probation: people arrested but not charged are told they’d better “stay out of trouble,” lest the DA decide to change their mind and file after all.
This is ALSO explicitly and unequivocally an action taken to dissuade people from participating in political demonstrations, and this also has a chilling effect on the free speech of those arrested, as well as anyone close to them.
Now, let’s also talk about the fact that when people are arrested at protests, and then cited and released, they are frequently let out of jail in the middle of the night, without access to public transportation.
The @berkeleypolice publishing photos of people who are going to be let out of jail alone late at night is putting these people at elevated risk of violence from white nationalist vigilantes.
It’s also worth pointing out that none of this is exclusive to BPD, or to the Alameda County District Attorney. These are all common practices across the country, and they are all done with the intention of “subversively” suppressing dissidence.
