A new round of criminal trials for Black Lives Matter organizers is probably on the horizon after recent protests against Donald Trump in Chicago. In Los Angeles however, seven members of the group are currently on trial for something that happened back in 2014.
Jury selection is currently underway for the BLM-LA activists arrested for blocking the Hollywood/101 Freeway in November 2014. That protest was primarily in response to the non-indictment of police officer Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. Many other charges against BLM activists that participated in protests nationwide during that same time period have ended in dismissals, but the Los Angeles City Attorney moved forward with this particular case. You can view a video of the group’s attorney, Nana Gyamfi, speaking on the charges and why she feels the group has been targeted unfairly here.
According to Gyamfi, Los Angeles appears to be especially hardhearted against BLM activists, dealing with peaceful, non-violent protestors “with an iron fist.” Two activists with the group were found guilty at the beginning of the month of battery on a police officer and trespassing in a separate case. They had been attempting to confront the mayor about his lack of accountability in numerous police killings of unarmed African Americans in the city. The duo had faced a total of eight misdemeanor charges. Another activist currently on trial for the 101 freeway shutdown, Pasadena-based Jasmine Richards, also faces trial on charges of interfering in the arrest of someone in that city back in August 2015.
The trial has been moved from downtown Los Angeles into East Los Angeles and is expected to take about two weeks. Activist Rosa Clemente, one of the seven currently on trial, has spoken out about the proceedings and what she calls the targeting of Black Lives Matter activists. You can view that video, courtesy of The Real News Network, below the fold.
Rosa Clemente speaking on The Real News Network: