Stop the Witchhunt—No. 9

VICTORY!!
Fence Charges Thrown Out! Antiracists Win!


Friday morning, July 30, following two days of evidentiary hearing, Judge Ann Mattson threw out the misdemeanor charges against 9 antiracists accused of damaging a chainlink rental fence at last year’s Ku Klux Klan rally in Ann Arbor. The judge threw out the charges for lack of evidence.

This is a great victory against the political witchhunt that the prosecutors’ office, police department and city government of Ann Arbor have been conducting against the antiracist movement for the last year. The antiracist movement has grown stronger and more popular in Southeast Michigan over the course of the defense against this government attack, in which our enemies have unsuccessfully used the courts as a political weapon.

After Friday’s dismissal of the fence misdemeanors and the June 4 acquittal of 16-year-old antiracist Ryan Lang of felony "Riot" charges, this witchhunt has ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE.

Both a jury and now a judge have rejected the witchhunt in court; the absence of evidence has been the decisive legal factor in both decisions, first, Ryan’s complete acquittal by an all-white six-person jury, now, by the dismissal of 9 of the misdemeanors by Judge Mattson. The starkness of the absence of foundation for the witchhunt charges confirms the defendants’ standing contention that these charges are conceived not from any factual/legal standpoint, but from the standpoint of suppressing political dissent. The fact that these cases have proceeded for fourteen months – absent evidence – is outrageous, it should indicate to every fair-minded person in Southeast Michigan that these cases are motivated by political aims, not by evenhanded application of the law.

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported the antiracist defendants. The broad public support and the aggressive public political campaign are the key elements that have made both these victories possible. We succeeded in conveying to the court that to prolong these cases would only cause the city government of Ann Arbor, the prosecutor’s office and the police department further embarrassment and political exposure.


Humiliation of the Prosecutor at the Hearing

Our political and legal effort secured an evidentiary hearing on the subject of most of the misdemeanor charges – the chain link fence that the city government erected to protect the KKK’s rally. That piece of evidence – the sole physical evidence of the cases – was discarded and scrapped with the authorization of the police after the rally and before any charges were brought.

At the hearing, the defendants went on the offensive, putting the prosecution’s witnesses on the witness stand first.

Former Deputy Chief Jack Ceo started out by "not remembering" (all this under oath!!) what departmental procedures are for preservation of evidence and the integrity of crime scenes. He went on to testify extensively about having seen that the fence was "not as taut as it had been" but, despite the best efforts of the defense attorney, would not be anymore specific about the "damage" he claimed to have seen from the 4th floor of city hall. Ceo, the prosecution’s star witness, was absolutely useless to the prosecution.

Ceo’s testimony that the fence was "bent" directly contradicted the fence company foreman (the prosecution’s other witness) who testified that he did not notice any damage to the erect fence when he arrived at city hall to take down the fence after the rally. The foreman also stated that his company’s usual procedure with rental fence of this type is to discard it – "damaged" or not. This put the prosecution in the awkward position of charging people with "maliciously destroying" "property" (garbage!!) that normally would have been scrapped after the rally regardless of its condition.

The defense then called two fence company presidents who spoke with integrity, flair and precision about their assessment of the condition of the rental fence from police videos of the rally. Scott Parks of Parks Fence testified at length about the nature of the material and the fence business. James Davidson of Penny Fence Co. testified with evident conviction that the market value of the piece of fence fabric in question was in no way diminished by the demonstrators.

A Peace Team member, Stephanie Lindemann, testified to having been at the section of the fence that was pushed and pulled on. Stephanie saw no damage to the fence.

The owner of The Wooden Spoon bookstore on 4th Street, Richard Wunsch, testified to having walked by the fence at the end of the rally and to having noticed that it was erect and in good order.

Ann Arbor attorney, Gary Margosian, testified to having seen the fence throughout the rally. Gary saw no damage to the fence. He conveyed pride at being on the same side as the antiracist demonstrators.

Our case was overwhelming.


Drop the Remaining Charges!

The next two steps of the legal proceeding in what remains of the witchhunt are a decision on a set of defense motions in the felony cases and the misdemeanor trial of Phil Carroll.

Phil Carroll, a 66-year-old antiracist and a long-time Ann Arbor resident, is charged with "Assault and Battery", a 90-day misdemeanor. The oldest of the antiracist defendants, he is accused of having pushed a Peace Team member and of having said "Get out of the way, or else…" The sheer stupidity and frivolousness of this charge is stunning. Even if everything the prosecution is saying about Phil Carroll were true, the case would be a ridiculous waste of tax money to pursue. The fact that the majority of the prosecution’s case is a sheer fabrication – with the rest strategically taken out of context – takes what would otherwise be almost amusing and makes it contemptible. Add in the fact that Phil’s charge is part of an effort to keep Ann Arbor residents from opposing racist terrorism and the whole thing is thoroughly despicable. All opponents of racism and state repression should picket and attend Phil Carroll’s trial.

 
No Public – No Risk of Public Terror or Alarm

One of the key legal elements of the "Riot" law is that the alleged criminal conduct lead to a "serious risk of public terror or alarm".

At Thursday’s hearing (July 29) on the defense motion to dismiss the "Riot" charges, the fact was brought out that not only was there no "serious risk of public terror or alarm" there was no possibility of public terror or alarm. Every single one of the prosecution’s own witnesses in the felony cases have testified to the fact that the area where the alleged criminal activity was said to have taken place was itself closed to the public. The public had been denied access to the very location where the "Riot" defendants’ actions are alleged to have caused a "serious risk of public terror or alarm". The conspicuous absence of this legal element for the charge of "Riot" is yet another indication of how fast and loose prosecutor Brian Mackie’s office is willing to be with the law and civil liberties when their purpose is shutting down the activist antiracist/antifascist movement.

Judge Donald Shelton is likely to rule on this and other important questions of the witchhunt over the month of August; all possible political pressure must be maintained to ensure that justice is done.
 

Picket and Attend Phil Carroll’s Trial

1PM, Monday, August 23, 
Downtown Courthouse (Main & Huron)

 

1999.08.02 

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Ann Arbor Antiracist Defense Campaign
National Women’s Rights Organizing Coalition

PO Box 1092 Penobscot Station, Detroit, MI. 48231  (313) 730-3577

www.umich.edu/~nwroc * nwroc@umich.edu