DC

On the 4th of June, the first of four defendents in the second J20 trial group was acquitted of all charges, and all charges dropped against the remaining defendents who were to begin trial that day in another trial group. On the 6th of June, another defendent was acquitted of all but one charge, with the jury deadlocked on the final charge of "participating in a riot." On the 7th of June, the third defendent was acquitted of APO and the jury deadlocked on all other charges. Finally, a mistrial was declared on all counts against the fourth and final defendent, the jury deadlocked.

Remembrances on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, as Palestinians refer to the events of 1948 leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the creation of Israel, one day after the Trump administration moved the US embassy to Jerusalem.

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On the 30th of May, the ACLU hosted the #ReformDCJustice candidate's forum for DC Council Chair and at-large candidates. Two at-large candidates seeking to unseat Anita Bonds were present, Anita Bonds was a no-show. The ACLU, Black Lives Matter, and No Justice No Pride would have been a tough audience for a councilmember known to answer to big buisness and gentrifiers, and who attended Trump's inauguration. Issues from Stop and Frisk to sex work to Amazon's efforts to invade DC came up during the forum.

Video: Jeremiah Lowery on Amazon vs homeless funding, Lowery vs Goodwin on sex work legalization

On May 26, a banner drop over Route 66 in solidarity with the J20 defendents was reported to itsgoingdown.org. On May 23, the chief judge overseeing the J20 cases agreed with defense attorneys that the government had committed a Brady rule violation by concealing a portion of the Veritas tape they plan to use as "evidence" from the defense. Sanctions against the prosecution will be decided on May 31.