What’s wild about this opinion is it shows how this case — which cops and conservatives have been touting as a way to go after protestors — is based on utter horseshit. Like “we saw him pick up a water bottle and the court should infer he threw it at a cop later” horseshit.
NEW: A Louisiana federal judge has found that civil-rights activist DeRay Mckesson is not legally responsible for injuries inflicted by someone else at a protest he was alleged to have organized
OPINION: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
CASE FILE: clearinghouse.net/case/45222/
That entire piece should not be a footnote.
It should be in the body of the order, followed by “Plaintiff is ordered to show cause why they should not be sanctioned.”
So @kenwhite.bsky.social if you were on the business end of that footnote, would that be the sort of thing to make you want to change your name and move to another state?
"Included wasa ticket stub for a viewing of The Phantom Menace, which the plaintiff states was the midnight showing, but clearly gives a date three weeks after the release."
It really does show how much insane shit prosecutors and cops get away with that they thought they could bring a case based on 'we saw him pick up a water bottle'.
The fact that they thought they had something in this case with speculative “evidence” at BEST shows what the GOP thinks they can get away with in court right now.
Except this is more like charging someone for *retweeting* that tweet, which is clearly ridiculous. *Originating* such a message could be seen as qualitatively different. (Not saying I’d agree, but some would.)
Honestly, this shit is word for word what happened in Russia in the 2010s. Same prosecution of "organizers", same shitty argumentation. The only differences are the absence of attempts to pin "the organizers" for the damages caused by the cops and for the cop's overtime, and the verdict.
It's almost like cops are used to being able to claim whatever they want without providing proof. A few more judges and juries should be a lot more skeptical about police testimony without additional evidence:
They should be sanctioned by the Bar and Judge for even bringing this utter whale shite argument. It is an embarrassment for all of us in the legal profession. If I was the Judge, I'd have aske the PA if they have any dignity or pride left after filing it.