Over 400 people have been arrested during the ICE protests — mostly in California and it turns out some of them aren’t even protesters. One unlucky individual got snagged by the riot police, even though they were just documenting the incident by taking photos and videos, but despite their alleged innocence, the police still charged them with a misdemeanor.
The incident supposedly happened in one of the San Francisco ICE protests to a Reddit user who goes by the name EugenioBrowning. EugenioBrowning went to the protest merely to photograph and record the event, so they moved ahead far from the group. Apparently, that didn’t help since the Reddit user still got caught in the encircling tactic that the riot police performed, and they insisted on blocking EugenioBrowning. So the Reddit user got arrested along with the protesters.
Hence, EugenioBrowning took to the r/legaladvice subreddit to ask what he should do because the police took him to jail and processed his release, but still slapped him with a 647c of the California penal code. Now, he has a pending court hearing because of the misdemeanor.
For the record, 647c of the California penal code makes malicious obstruction of a street, sidewalk, or public space illegal and liable for a misdemeanor. For EugenioBrowning, this was a first since he had no priors, so the taint in his otherwise clean record would be quite life-changing, especially when seeking gainful employment.
While some of the advice in the subreddit claims that the hearing is easy enough without an attorney, others were skeptical of authorities, as they fear that the court might make EugenioBrowning’s case an “example,” especially against ICE protests, even though he had nothing to do with it.
Not the First Bystander Casualty in ICE Protests
In hindsight, Reddit user EugenioBrowning got off lucky with just a misdemeanor. Other ICE protest bystanders– mainly media men and women were deliberately shot by rubber bullets. Some of the riot police’s collateral damage includes even a foreign media reporter who certainly got culture shocked by the US law enforcement.
The “stray” rubber bullets seemed widespread enough for some reporters to wear Kevlar vests during their coverage for fear that a rogue riot police officer might take aim at them. In EugenioBrowning’s case, it appears they weren’t harmed during the mass arrests, though what they experienced in San Francisco would likely continue to worsen the image of ICE officers and the cops that protect them.
“I’d hire an attorney. Perhaps more to not have the record of conviction than anything else. Lots of people would achieve pretty good outcomes without an attorney. Someone might be an ‘example,'” advises reddituser1211
“Definitely get an attorney. You do not want to go up against ICE & SFPD without one,” according to springacres
