Weds, Sept 18th at 9am. Northampton District Court, 15 Gothic Street, Northampton MA
Support demil activists for their second pretrial!
In June, four Demil members were arrested in a nonviolent blockade of L3 Harris's loading dock. They were charged with disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, interfering with an officer, and felony malicious destruction of property.
Here's an excerpt (with names removed) from Alexander MacDougall's article on our last pretrial, published in the Hampshire Gazette:
The protesters are facing charges of disorderly conduct, trespassing and resisting arrest as a result of the blockade. [One protester] is also facing a charge of destruction of property of more than $1,200 as a result of the protest, which carries the weight of a felony if he’s convicted.
Tyler Ingraham, an attorney representing [that protestor] in the case, said that the commonwealth was seeking restitution payments on behalf of L3Harris from the activists as a result of the protest. He said he planned on contesting the amount sought for restitution in court and the subsequent felony charge, based on information he received as part of the discovery process.
“This thing’s a little hokey, and so we’re going to take an opportunity to really scrutinize what we got today,” Ingraham said. “I think I feel comfortable saying that I have some questions about, among other things, whether it was appropriate for my client to even ever be charged with a felony.”
Speaking to the Gazette, [another arestee] said that his charge of disorderly conduct against L3Harris was ironic given the company’s military ties.
“With all due respect to the commonwealth and the court, I find it particularly absurd in light of the entity of L3 Harris, being one that primarily deals in war and violence and surveillance,” [he] said. “There’s people all over this valley and this country who are desiring a world free from militarism and exploitation and imperialism, who are desiring peace. And L3Harris is disturbing that peace.”