Trial for four Black Lives Matter activists in Worcester, Massachusetts (50 miles west of Boston), has been rescheduled for January 7, 2016. The proceedings were set to begin November 9, but the defense felt a larger pool was needed to ensure a fair trial for the accused.
Sonya Conner, Kevin Ksen, Robert Blackwell Gibbs, and Julius Jones are charged with disturbing the peace. They were part of a group of approximately 45 demonstrators that blocked Kelley Square in January 2015 during nationwide Martin Luther King Jr. Day demonstrations. Traffic was blocked in the busy thoroughfare for four-and-a half minutes, symbolizing the four-and-a-half hours that Michael Brown’s body laid on a Ferguson, Missouri,street on August 9, 2014. Brown was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a former police officer, whose non-indictment by prosecutors set off a nationwide series of protests.
Attorneys for the protestors say they have a lot of questions to ask potential jurors, including their opinions on Black Lives Matter, on All Lives Matter, and whether or not they’re familiar with a local blog called “Turtleboy Sports.”
Yes, whether they’ve read Turtleboy Sports. To see why attorneys want to know the answer to this question, go here.Approximately 20 jurors were ready and available on November 9. Defense attorneys say they’d feel much better if the pool was at least 50 to 60.
Last month, 14 Black Lives Matter activists in Somerville, Massachusetts, were successful in getting charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct dropped. The move allowed the group to escape jail time, although charges of trespassing remain, stemming from a protest that blocked Interstate 93 back in January.