Under Arrest for Non-Violent Protest against ICE

On Thursday, after a march of several hundred mostly young Jewish activists from the Holocaust Memorial across the Longfellow Bridge, twelve of the demonstrators  were arrested for siting in the lobby of Amazon’s Cambridge Headquarters protesting Amazon’s complicity with ICE  for developing facial recognition software and other cloud based technology in aid of Trump’s war on immigrants.  In a non-violent protest, the activists were charged only with  criminal trespass.

Sometimes, a lawyer prevails by just “ showing up.”   The arraignment occurred at the Cambridge District Court on Friday, August 6.  With my minimal input, the Cambridge Assistant ADA, after consulting her boss, Middlesex District  Attorney Marian Ryan, agreed to “Nolle Pros” the cases, pre-arraignment, stating that, “such action is taken in the interest of justice.”  Apparently, both  the Middlesex and Suffolk County DAs feel that public sentiment favors not prosecuting non-violent  protestors.  In addition, the District Attorney’s action reflects widespread support for immigrant rights and  active opposition to the federal government’s  attempt to construct a legal basis for neo-fascism, including criminalizing protest.

“ History doesn’t repeat itself, but often it rhymes.”

                                                                          – Mark Twain

Written by Lee Goldstein