Jury Acquits First Six J20 Defendants, Rebuking Government's Push for Collective Punishment
I've been watching this case unfold with an increasing sense of dread for months, but now the jury is back with a complete acquittal of the first six J20 protesters. It's not a complete victory because a) it never should have come this far in a country where the First Amendment is ostensibly still the law and b) there are nearly a couple hundred other people awaiting trial. However, the rebuke from the jury is going to substantially increase the likelihood that the rest of the cases will be pled down to misdemeanors or quietly dropped entirely.
What worried me was that if the jury bought the government's arguments, then all political protest could be nullified by a few black-clad
agents provocateur who would break a few windows while the police would kettle up and arrest the legitimate protesters, who would then be charged for being present while the government did all the vandalism. It may still happen, but it's less likely now that the government knows it can't count on a rubber stamp from the jury.