Occupy Wall Street Woman in Prison
Prayers for: Woman Found Guilty of Assaulting Officer at an Occupy Wall Street Protest
A trial that had become a rallying point for many Occupy Wall Street activists ended on Monday with a jury finding a protester guilty of assaulting a police officer at Zuccotti Park in Manhattan in 2012.
A
jury of eight women and four men took less than three hours to decide
that the protester, Cecily McMillan, 25, was responsible for assaulting
the officer, rejecting her contention that she had reacted instinctively
when he grabbed her breast during a protest on St. Patrick’s Day. Ms.
McMillan had said she could not distinctly recall what happened amid the
chaos of the night.
After
the foreman announced the verdict in State Supreme Court in Manhattan,
the courtroom erupted in catcalls and derision from more than 50 of Ms.
McMillan’s supporters. Several stood and shouted, “Shame, shame, shame.”
Their
anger peaked when Justice Ronald A. Zweibel ordered Ms. McMillan to be
held in jail until sentencing on May 19. The second-degree assault on a
police officer is a felony that carries a penalty of up to seven years
in prison.
Ms. McMillan, wearing a frilly white dress and a stone-colored jacket, was led away in handcuffs.
Outside
the courthouse, Ms. McMillan’s lawyer, Martin R. Stolar, said the judge
had made several mistakes that would become the basis of an appeal,
among them excluding evidence about other protesters who claimed the
same officer had abused them. “I’m extremely disappointed that an
innocent woman has been convicted,” Mr. Stolar said.
Ms.
McMillan was arrested on March 17, 2012, the night hundreds of people
gathered to observe the founding of the Occupy Wall Street movement six
months earlier. The police swept through the park in Lower Manhattan,
carrying out scores of protesters, many of whom locked arms, went limp
and refused to move. Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/nyregion/occupy-wall-street-protester-is-found-guilty-of-assaulting-officer.html?_r=0
