J20 solidarity rally held, court hears motion to dismiss Inauguration protest indictments

On the 27th of June, DC Superior court heard a motion to dismiss the superceding indictment and compel disclosure of probable illegal grand jury instructrions. Before the hearing began, supporters of the defendents held a rally outside, including the reading of a statement by Dane Powell, sent to jail for 4 months after rescuing a child from police pepper spray on Jan 20.

Driving home the point that the fight against MPD and against Trump is really a fight against Fascism, one speaker called out MPD officers for wearing white supremacists T-shirts celebrating jump-outs and displaying the Sun Cross in a way popular with white supremacists while engaging in jump-out attacks on people in Anacostia. These officers have also been seen elsewhere in the T-shirts but never on patrol in white, gentrified parts of DC.

Unicorn Riot reported from inside the court that that one lawyer called government mis-instruction of the grand jury so egregrious that anyone sentenced after a trial would have grounds for a post-sentencing appeal. With over 100 defendents refusing to negotiate, that could mean prosecutors have to do the work to deal with over 100 appeals. Also, that could cause the case to drag on on all the way to Jan 20, 2020. Apparently the government did not even tell the grand jury that they and not prosecutors are supposed to decide whether a case is a misdemeanor or a felony. Also the combined offense of "rioting & inciting to riot" does not exist in DC law, you can be charged with rioting or inciting a riot but not both for the same offense as DC laws are written.

Unicorn Riot also reported that at the end of the day, Judge Lynn Leibovitz ended the hearing taking the defense arguments "under advisement" and will rule on a later date.

Video including reading of Dane Powell's statement and Black Lives Matter solidarity statement describing openly white supremacist cops