Friday Oct 19th, 2012 10:01 AM
The Anti-Columbus Day demonstrators face misdemeanor charges, pending court dates.
Two weeks after their arrest, 19 demonstrators arrested on October 6 still need our support. Those arrested were charged with a variety of misdemeanor charges on Friday October 12, and three face charges of resisting arrest, battery and rioting. The first court date for those charged is Friday, October 26 at 1:30 at 850 Bryant St in San Francisco.
The Anti-Columbus Day demonstrators were arrested at the October 6 Anti-Colonial/Anti-Capitalist demonstration in the San Francisco Financial District after police claimed they threw stones and other projectiles at officers. A video of the attack shows police rushed protesters at the intersection of California and Battery:
The arrestees were held on suspicion of felony and misdemeanor crimes, and several were bailed out prior to arraignment. The San Francisco district attorney reportedly dropped charges against Michael Pellagatti, a visiting livestreamer from New York that spoke with SF Weekly and told them “There was a lot of craziness and back-and-forth between protesters and police. I can’t say for sure who was to blame” and emphasized that he was wearing a gray sweater, not a black one.
HOW YOU CAN HELP We need to pressure the San Francisco DA to DROP THE CHARGES! You can contact the San Francisco DA over the phone at (415)332-1751 and on Twitter at @SFDAOffice. Demand that the office drop charges against ALL of the protesters immediately!
Pack the court! Show up at 850 Bryant to support those arrested. We need to show the demonstrators that we have their backs and that we won’t be cowed by state repression.
Support the legal costs of anti-repression work! You can donate to the Occupy Oakland bail fund here – note that the amount collected represents the overall amount raised and does not represent the money left after months of state action. You can support arrested protesters from Seattle here and two protesters that borrowed bail money from family and friends here.
Call the DA! Get the word out! Fight back against state repression!