Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

1,300 BLM Protesters in NYC Face Jail Time and Fines

Protesters accused of nothing more than being outside after 8 pm are facing jail time and/or hundreds of dollars in fines. Others are facing steeper charges. Part of the moment must be to drop all charges now.

Maria Aurelio

July 14, 2020
Facebook Twitter Share
Image by Paul Martinka

A few weeks ago, rage against the racist murder of George Floyd was spreading like wildfire around the country. From May 28 through June 7, there were 2,087 protest-related arrests in New York City. The Democrats who run New York City decided to institute the first curfew in the first week of June. This was the first curfew in NYC in 75 years. 

As a result, 1,300 people in NYC are facing class B misdemeanors for breaking curfew, which is punishable by a 500-dollar fine and/or jail time. That means that nearly half of all arrests during the protests were for merely being out of the house and in the streets after 8pm. 

While these protesters, who did nothing more than be outside their house after 8pm, face jail time, the police, who violently repressed protesters, face no consequences. In New York City, police violence against protesters is well documented: they ran their car into protesters, beat protesters with batons, and pepper sprayed people. 

And in cities around the country, people were blinded by police rubber bullets and even killed. These cops aren’t facing any fines or jail time.

Some groups have been hit with particularly severe charges. According to a report released by the attorney general, of the 2,087 arrested, 16% of Black protesters were charged with a felony, 8% of Latino protesters were charged with a felony, while less than 4% of white and Asian protesters were charged with a felony. 

In perhaps the most brutal and jarring case, three protesters are facing federal charges for allegedly throwing molotov cocktails. Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman are lawyers in NYC and are claimed to have thrown a molotov cocktail at an empty police car. They were released on bail after garnering widespread media attention but still face charges of 45 years to life in prison. Another protester, Samantha Shader, is charged with throwing an unlit Molotov cocktail at a police car. She faces 25 years in prison and has been locked up for over a month and denied bail. These examples show the way that the State is attempting to use these protesters as an example, to prevent further protests. Sign a petition to free them and drop all charges here!

While Breonna Taylor’s murderers walk free, thousands of protesters in NYC and around the country are facing criminal changes. The hypocrisy is staggering. So far, only a couple hundred cases have been dropped. Jennvine Wong, a staff attorney for the Cop Accountability Project at the Legal Aid Society said, “If these cases are still pending, then you’re also putting people at a disadvantage in housing. If they’re looking for new employment, this can have dire consequences.”
The Legal Aid Society and other public defenders’ offices demanded all protest charges be dropped in a letter sent to district attorneys

In protests, we chanted “we keep us safe” — a promise to oppose the police and support each other. Part of that support must be fighting to drop all charges now. 

Facebook Twitter Share

United States

A Pause in Genocide Is Not Enough: Jewish Voice for Peace Shuts Down the Manhattan Bridge

Amid a pause in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace is showing that the movement for Palestine will continue. Civil disobedience must lead to broad protests which bring all sectors of the movement together.

Samuel Karlin

November 26, 2023
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed wearing Keffiyes. They were shot in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The Three Palestinians Shot in Burlington Are Victims of Rising Islamophobia

Three Palestinian men were shot in Burlington Vermont while walking down the street. The campaign against Palestine has dehumanized all Palestinians and left them more vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Enid Brain

November 26, 2023
A rally with people holding signs and a banner reading "Full funding"

Student Workers Stand Up for CUNY and Palestine

Attacks on CUNY and CUNY activists are an attack on all working people and students. Workers and students united can fight back.  

Olivia Wood

November 25, 2023

Protestors Disrupt Thanksgiving Parade With One Message: End Genocide, Don’t Celebrate It

This Thanksgiving, pro-Palestine protestors and Indigenous people refuse to allow the whitewashing of past and ongoing genocide.

Emma Lee

November 23, 2023

MOST RECENT

The World Kissinger Built Must Die Too

Henry Kissinger died at 100 years old. But his legacy remains in the brutal world system he built and the future generations of imperialist ghouls he inspired. They all must go.

Samuel Karlin

November 30, 2023

Fact Check: Did German Leftists Try to Bomb West Berlin’s Jewish Community Center in 1969?

Answer: No. The bombing was undertaken by West Germany’s domestic secret service, originally founded by Nazis.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 29, 2023
Protesters in NYC for Palestinian liberation.

Uniting Workers for Palestine Is a Fight for the Future of Labor

The struggle for Palestine shows the potential for the rank and file to push unions to break with imperialism and to build a new, combative, and internationalist unionism.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

November 27, 2023
Haverford College student Kinnan Abdalhamid and Brown University students Tahseen Ahmed and Hisham Awartani, Palestinian college students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont.

Haverford Faculty for Justice in Palestine Releases Statement Supporting Pro-Palestinian Students

Haverford College Faculty for Justice in Palestine have published a statement following the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont.