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on august 30th, the albemarle county school board made it abundantly clear where they stand. six members of my community, my friends, antiracists activists, were arrested. they stand trial this morning.
brief recess in what looks like it’s gonna be a long one. one defendant took a plea this morning & myk (who was later charged with felony assault on an officer) isn’t being tried today — his felony trial isn’t until june.
this recess won’t last long, but i have to say as awful as it is to see my friends dragged through this, it’s a pleasure to finally see @jlrlaw argue in court
the judge told folks here for the 1:00 traffic docket that they can request continuances from the clerk’s office... this is going to take the rest of the day. we’re four witnesses in & they sent easily a dozen out of the courtroom this morning.
another brief recess in this endless bench trial. charges against one defendant were dropped - the judge agreed there was no lawful basis for her arrest at all & trespass charges were dropped against another.
two defendants still face trespass charges & one faces obstruction of justice. headed back in now.
two defendants found guilty of trespass and given 30 days, all suspended. the third was found guilty of obstruction of justice and sentenced to 60 days, also all suspended. all three suspended sentences are on the condition of two years good behavior.
both the assistant commonwealth’s attorney & the judge made it clear their intention is to send a message.
they want us to sit down, shut up, and stop showing urd3N
they want us to sit down, shut up, and stop showing urd3N
at issue at the trial today was whether or not APD major jenkins, who was not in uniform the night of the arrests, identified himself as a police officer before attempting to arrest a woman. several witnesses testified that he did not.
after testifying that she had no idea jenkins was a police officer, one witness was asked if she has “anything against police officers in general.” she responded that she believes the institution of policing is inherently racist (which it is)
the asst commonwealth’s attorney repeatedly asked if she might be lying, committing perjury, due to her bias against police officers, citing the fact that she once retweeted this (excellent) tweet
on redirect, the asst commonwealth’s attorney said, “obviously you don’t care for racism. nobody likes racism.”
buddy, that ain’t true. i know A LOT of folks who, in fact, love racism. it’s kinda their whole deal. i know your office is familiar with some of them.
buddy, that ain’t true. i know A LOT of folks who, in fact, love racism. it’s kinda their whole deal. i know your office is familiar with some of them.
the judge said, “i don’t think she’s a member of the FOP, but it’s not going to affect her testimony,” but vega persisted, asking “is she willing to lie under oath for the cause? if she’s biased against police officers, which she is, is she willing to lie under oath?”
