photo by Joyofresistance
by Mungen Cakes
Two occupiers arrested during the events on May Day had a winning day in court on July 9, 2012.
The trials for Mr. 60 and Tommy “tboypdx” Murray, a well known streamer and member of the opdxlive, were held in Room 124 of the Multnomah County Courthouse and presided over by a quick moving Judge Kathleen M. Dailey. Murray was arrested soon after the dance party in Pioneer Courthouse Square; Mr 60’s was the last arrest of the day, around 11 pm in front of the Justice Center.
Before court came to order, it was revealed that Murray’s arresting officer was not in attendance and therefore his case was dismissed. Murray theorized that the arrest videos could lead to no other conclusion than his innocence, so the officer wisely decided not to show. The charges had been criminal mischief and interfering with a police officer. This is possibly a case where orangebloc, a protest tactic in which as many people as possible record or livestream during actions to have the highest possibility of capturing events for future reference, was effective as a deterrent against conviction. See below for video stream of the arrest, and subsequent audio stream from inside the paddy wagon.
Mr. 60’s arresting officer, Officer Newby, did appear. The charges were identical to Murray’s–criminal mischief in the 2nd degree and interference with a police officer. Since a trial was requested, his case was held until the end of the docket.
Mr. 60 represented himself against two assistant DA’s. The only witnesses called were Officer Newby and Mr. 60.
The most salient trial facts related to where the two principals were prior to the arrest, the location of the ice cream truck with loudspeakers and, in the end, where the hard squad (riot police with full-body “ninja turtle” protective gear, complete with sneeze guards) was. The officer’s testimony under direct DA examination was that Mr. 60 had been riding his bike in the street, against traffic and disregarding the instructions being broadcast by the ice cream truck’s PA.
Mr. 60 testified that he was working traffic protection as a black bloc tactic for the other protesters and had been ordered off the sidewalk by the hard squad. He was able to elicit testimony from Officer Newby that Newby was uncertain of the whereabouts of the hard squad. The officer also gave conflicting testimony as to the location of the ice cream truck.
In the end it was called a draw by Judge Dailey and Mr. 60 went free.
During the trial there were many gallery comments from Occupy support which Judge Dailey did not tolerate. Some onlookers came close to expulsion or contempt charges.
In all fairness to Mr 60, he does not claim to be from Occupy. He calls himself an Anarchist and says that Occupiers are much nicer than he is. His post trial interview is a gem and can be viewed at this link.
Tommy “tboypdx” Murray, seen pre-trial – photo by Mungen
