The demonstrators arrived late at night with a plan to set off fireworks as part of a noise demonstration to show solidarity with those detained inside. A few of the protesters spontaneously broke off from the main group and vandalized cars in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed the tires on a government van and broke a security camera. When a police officer arrived on the scene and drew his weapon, one of the activists fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the officer in the shoulder. The officer survived.
Zachary Evetts, Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Elizabeth Soto and Meagan Morris were sentenced to 50 years in prison. Maricela Rueda, another demonstrator, was sentenced to 70 years in prison. Benjamin Song, who fired the gun at the police officer, was sentenced to 100 years in prison
The ninth defendant, Daniel Sanchez-Estrada was not at the protest, but was convicted of corruptly concealing a document or record after prosecutors said he moved leftwing zines and other materials at the request of Rueda, his wife, after she was arrested. Sanchez-Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday.
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30 years for moving some pamphlets.
No I mean strictly in person for things that are particularly sensitive. No online option. I understand it is a burden but it’s also a trade-off not just a cost, and the benefits are increasingly worth it.
They should be able to suggest ways to make things accessible to them, like as above examples.
I have worked with all kinds of people in all kinds of situations. The idea of being 100% unable to attend any meeting, ever, is implausible. Someone who smacks down such a proposal without trying to work it out is abusing good will.
I don’t think the people making such claims will enjoy what the “justice” system has in store for them.
Every real org with enough people will inevitably have members that overly focus on their own hardships and weaponize them when convenient. Handling them can be challenging because they often do good work despite the toxicity and because consciousness around these topics is often limited or liberal. This site, while not an org, sometimes struggles with tokenizing logic, for example.
I’m saying this because there is not an appeal to be made that can always make every person happy or mollified. For example, in the past I’ve suggested hardship funds, adding locations near them to the rotation, meeting outdoors while still masking (I actually prefer this). Eventually an org has to decide whether they want to alienate a self-centering member or work around them and it can really go either way depending on context.