Trial Set for Aug. 7
Stand With the Stonewall 4!
The Stonewall 4 are members of the New York City Revolution Club, who are also active with Refuse Fascism. They were arrested Feb. 4 at the LGBTQ Solidarity with Muslims rally at the Stonewall Inn. On June 20 they, their attorneys, and supporters appeared to hear the Judge’s decision on motions to dismiss their case.
Each defendant was facing three outrageous charges: disorderly conduct, obstructing governmental administration, and resisting arrest.
In response to motions presented by attorneys for the 4, the Judge dismissed the Disorderly Conduct charge on the basis of facial insufficiency. That means the allegations and official account of the prosecution and the police failed to justify having even made this charge.
At the same time, the Judge stayed his decision for 30 days to give the prosecution time to file an additional superseding information. This means that the prosecution can change its description of what happened to better fit the charges and even change the charges themselves. The prosecution did this once already in response to earlier defense motions, showing that they are working hard to come up with charges and a story that they hope will stick and bring a guilty verdict at trial.
As of now, the two charges remaining are obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors and each carrying a possible one year in Rikers Island jail if defendants are found guilty.
The completely unjustified arrests came after aggressive Trump supporters harassed the four, suggesting a pattern that has since developed across the country where pro-Trump fanatics try to provoke incidents that result in police arrests.
A key element in the case remains the role of the pro-Trump provocateurs. Since the time of these arrests, the presence and activities of fanatical Trump supporters have become more visible and pronounced across the country. In a dangerous and growing pattern, and in an increasingly organized way, these fascists harass people exercising their right to protest in order to try to provoke incidents and create pretexts for police to come in and arrest people.
The Stonewall 4 defendants include Noche Diaz. Noche has been targeted repeatedly for years by the NYPD for his role in the NYC Revolution Club, especially in leading people to resist police terror, and standing with those brutalized and assaulted by police. Another defendant is a Revolution Club member who also faces outrageous charges in another case where the police stalked, arrested and brutalized her on the way to a Refuse Fascism event Jan. 12, 2017. While in custody she was forcibly sent to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation because, according to her medical report, an NYPD cop said she “talked about her dislike of President Elect Donald Trump.” Her case is set for trial Aug. 15. (For more background on the case, read here.)
We’re calling on everyone to support these defendants and demand that all the charges against them be dropped, and that the NYPD cease colluding with Trump supporters to intimidate and target people.