SURJ DC Calls for All Charges to Be Dropped Against J20 Defendants
By DefendJ20Resistance
December 11, 2017
From SURJ-DC:
SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) DC unequivocally calls for the dropping of all charges against the people who > demonstrated their First Amendment rights to protest on Inauguration Day 2017 and who have, as a result, faced police brutality, excessive charges that are politically repressive, and ongoing surveillance. Many of our allies are facing up to decades in prison.
Their case is just another egregious example of the legacy of an autocratic police state that criminalizes protest and attempts to repress dissent. We see cases across the country where local police forces target activists and organizers, and bring overblown charges against them. We know these tactics escalate surveillance and targeting of communities already facing heightened criminalization by the state, including Black and People of Color, poor folks, immigrants, trans and queer folks, and people with disabilities. We recognize that the case has national implications for the ways that protesting is handled by police and prosecuted at the state and federal level.
Learn more about the J20 case. Add your name demanding that charges be dismissed. Support the J20 Legal Defense Fund. Open your home to host folks from out of town. Stay up to date on what’s next as cases, charges and ways to support evolve.
–SURJ DC Steering and Accountability Team
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