Saturday, 36 people were arrested in connection with Bostons straight-pride parade. Only two of those people were part of the parade itself. The rest were part of the Antifa counter-protest. As you can see in this arrest log, about half of the people arrested had serious charges against them including assault against police officers. Four officers were injured Saturday and, as of Wednesday, had not returned to duty. The other half were arrested for disorderly conduct and/or resisting arrest, i.e. relatively minor charges.
Tuesday, half of the arrestees were brought before Boston Judge Richard Sinnott. DA Rachel Rollins asked Sinnott to drop charges against 9 people who were arrested Saturday on lesser charges, i.e. resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Rollins, who is considered a progressive DA, has a standing commitment not to prosecute a list of 15 crimes which include disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She wanted these counter-protesters to walk.
But Judge Sinnott only agreed to drop charges against two of the nine. Thats very unusual because a judge generally doesnt decide who will get prosecuted. Tuesday evening DA Rollins published a statement on Facebook criticizing Judge Sinnotts refusal to dismiss the cases:
By compelling arraignment in every case, the judge punished the exercise of individuals First Amendment right to protest. At my request, prosecutors used the discretion constitutionally allocated to the executive branch to triage cases and use our resources most effectively to protect public safety. Make no mistake: some people were appropriately arraigned and will be held accountable for actions that put the safety of the public and law enforcement at risk. For those people now tangled in the criminal justice system for exercising their right to free speechmany of whom had no prior criminal recordI will use the legal process to remedy the judges overstepping of his role.
A defense attorney named Susan Church who was representing some of the defendants tweeted her own reaction to Judge Sinnotts refusal to dismiss: The Judge has zero authority to do that. Zilch. A severe overstep. Although the court can deny a dismissal arguably (very thin argument) they cannot for a nol prosse. Trumps screw the law attitude seeping down to district court judges I see. Church, who previously represented Occupy Boston, tried to argue this same point with the judge in person and wound up in handcuffs:
All I was trying to do was read the law to the court, Church said. And I was summarily arrested, handcuffed, brought down to the holding cell, held there for hours simply for doing my job and advocating for my client.
Sinnott, who declined requests from prosecutors to dismiss some of the cases the day before, pushed back against Church when she spoke out about statutes regarding case dismissals.
This is the only warning youre going to get. Do not try to talk over me, do not try to turn this into theater, Sinnott said before ordering Church to be held in contempt.
Heres Church discussing what happened after she was released:
Attorney Susan Church addresses the media after Judge Richard Sinnott releases her. Sinnott held her in contempt earlier today. pic.twitter.com/PXu9VRYK9B
So the progressive DA, the ACLU, and the progressive defense attorney are all unhappy with Judge Sinnott. The Massachusetts Association of Defense Attorneys has called for an investigation of the judge and DA Rollins has asked the states Supreme Court to overrule him. Based on what Im reading, that seems likely to happen.
Finally, I have to point out that when writing about this story, a Boston Globe columnist managed to include this idiotic defense of Antifa:
Perhaps Sinnott has a bee in his bonnet about these particular demonstrators, whom the right derisively calls Antifa it is meant as a disparagement, because being antifascist is apparently a bad thing now. The judge, who comes from a family with a background in law enforcement, is certainly sympathetic to police officers, who have been accused of being too rough with those they arrested on Saturday.
It never ceases to amaze me that left-leaning journos support a group whose stated mission is political violence carried out behind masks to escape accountability. Its not like any of this is a secret. Just a few days ago the Boston Herald quoted an Antifa member who said, Were covered in black so when we attack these guys we cant be prosecuted. So even when, as in this case, these goons are attacking and injuring the citys police, there are still numbskulls like this Globe columnist or CNNs Don Lemon who are eager to defend them.
And speaking of the police, the Police union was the only group who seemed happy with Judge Sinnotts stand against giving Antifa a pass:
Poster Comment:
A real hanging judge in Boston, sick of Antifa's antics. It won't last but it's fun to watch. And don't try reading the law to the judge if he's already hostile you.
Oh, please, drama queen. This is no better than jury nullification (which you pop a chub over) when anyone in the criminal justice system feel they should singly have the self importance to absolve a defendant of a criminal charge, because they dont agree with a law or feel a segment of a population is exempt from a law.
A pothead, Smollet, these sexually deviant assholes can and ALL FUCK OFF, and rot in prison.
I do actually like what this judge did but I don't think he can make it stick.
I'm an even bigger fan of when a judge refuses to sign off on a lenient phony plea deal and insists that the prosecutor takes it to trial so the perp has to face an angry jury. It's notable because it happens so rarely.
I don't like plea deals in general but the ones where the prosecutor allows a clearly guilty perp just skate really piss me off. That Smollett mess in Chicago is a perfect example. I hope Kim Foxx (the D.A.) goes to prison. And that they re-open the federal case against Smollett as well. Tens of thousands of unsolved murders on the books, not even detectives to solve more than a fraction of them, and Smollett makes them waste weeks on his fake hate crime because he's a celeb and because he thinks it will help him land a bigger contract with his cable show. He should do at least a few years in a real prison for that. If I were the judge, he'd do at least 5 years before any chance at parole.
Sod off you bloody wanker.
You really made Deckard mad. He's even using his fake British dialect.