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Washington, United States | AFP | Free speech activists and opponents of Donald Trump on Friday welcomed the acquittal of six protesters charged over unrest on the US president’s inauguration day.
They were among more than 200 people accused in connection with the January 20 protests, some of whom have already pleaded guilty.
A jury on Thursday found the six, the first to be tried, not guilty on all counts at the end of a month-long trial.
The verdict is “an important victory for the First Amendment,” the American Civil Liberties Union said, referring to the constitutional provision protecting freedom of expression.
Demonstrators grouped as “DisruptJ20” gathered in the US capital on the day Trump was sworn in.
There were localized clashes between protesters and police in the city center a few blocks from the White House, and some vandalism which authorities estimated caused $100,000 in damage.
The six who initially went to trial were charged with destruction of property and participating in a riot, even if there was no evidence connecting them to vandalism.
Prosecutors relied on a controversial argument that they had supported the vandals by choosing to stay with the group from which the unrest originated.
Lawyers for the accused countered that the six were simply exercising their right to peacefully protest.
Jurors did not buy the prosecution’s case.
“Today’s verdict reaffirms two central constitutional principles of our democracy: first, that dissent is not a crime, and second, that our justice system does not permit guilt by association,” said Scott Michelman, a lawyer with the ACLU.
“We hope that the US Attorney’s Office gets the message and moves quickly to drop all remaining charges against peaceful demonstrators.”
In a statement following the verdict, prosecutors insisted they will go ahead with plans to try the remaining accused, almost 200, in small groups until the end of next summer.
