First 6 Defendants In Inauguration Protest Trial Acquitted Of All Charges

By Ashraf Khalil Published DECEMBER 21, 2017 3:00 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury on Thursday acquitted six people on charges of rioting and destruction of property connected to violent protests during President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. The case could have major implications for the government’s strategy for prosecuting more than 150 others charged for their actions that day.

The verdict by a Washington Superior Court jury after two days of deliberations is a setback for the prosecution’s approach to the case. From the start, government prosecutors did not attempt to prove that any of the defendants had personally committed acts of violence or vandalism. Instead they argued that the entire group of protesters, many of whom wore face masks, was guilty of supporting and providing cover as others smashed windows downtown and set fire to a parked limo on K Street.

The protesters are being tried in small batches in a process that is expected to extend deep into 2018. This first batch of six protesters served partially as a test case for the government’s strategy. Much of the evidence consisted of a variety of videos, from security cameras, police helicopters and, in some cases, posted to social media by the defendants themselves. Prosecutors also interviewed dozens of witnesses, but none who could identify any of the defendants as a perpetrator.

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