Feds Use James OKeefe Video In Felony Trial Of Trump Inauguration Protesters

[octoberlib]

WASHINGTON ― A Justice Department prosecutor pursuing felony convictions for six of the hundreds of individuals arrested during President Donald Trump’s inauguration successfully introduced to a jury on Tuesday a video of a protest planning meeting that was secretly recorded by a controversial organization run by conservative activist James O’Keefe.

The video, shot by an affiliate of O’Keefe’s Project Veritas, shows a Jan. 8 meeting in a church basement in northwest Washington. It was shown to the jury during Tuesday’s testimony of Officer Bryan Adelmeyer of the Metropolitan Police Department, who went undercover to suss out protesters’ plans for Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

The Project Veritas video may play a key role in a trial that could determine the fate of an additional 181 defendants still facing trials on several felony counts over the course of the next year. More than 200 people, including numerous journalists, were arrested en masse after windows were smashed in downtown Washington before the inauguration. One defendant pleaded guilty to felony rioting charges, and 19 others have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts. Seven additional defendants who initially faced felonies are now scheduled to face trial on misdemeanor charges next month.

A total of 187 defendants, including the six currently on trial, have pending felony charges, with prosecutors alleging they were part of a conspiracy that resulted in extensive property damage and should therefore be held responsible for the actions of the other individuals they were arrested with. So far, prosecutors have not alleged that any of the six defendants on trial individually caused any destruction but instead argued that they enabled those who did. One of the defendants is a photographer who had taken an interest in covering demonstrations throughout the United States.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/james-o-keefe-project-veritas-inauguration-trial-j20_us_5a1daafbe4b079c1128a462f?rci



This is nuts. All of it.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. You cant put protesters in jail. Not in America.

You cant use known liars to do it, either.

Stop pushing us into a corner.

[Atticus]

2. Understand your sentiment, but let's consider:

they ARE putting protestors in jail --- in America.
And, they ARE using known liars to do it.
And, they have ALREADY pushed us into a corner.

And, we have ALLOWED all this to happen.

It is past time to seriously consider just exactly what using "all means necessary" means at this place in time.

[Marengo]

10. What does the phrase all means necessary mean to you?

[Atticus]

11. Massive---i.e. millions of people---marches and demonstrations which halt

business as usual and force either impeachment, removal per 25th amendment or resignation.

Shut it down.

[stuffmatters]

3. Unimagineable, incomprehensible any jury in America would find them guilty.

Glad this is a jury trial.

[Freethinker65]

4. If Veritas was left leaning and the protesters right leaning...the GO

...the GOP would be parroting that Project Veritas instigated the entire mess and could/should have stopped it as their patriotic duty.

But instead they will be hailed as heroes for manipulating hidden video/audio footage used by the Justice Department.

[BoneyardDem]

5. So the prosecution is pressing guilt by association?

Good luck with that one.

[CanonRay]

6. Anyone know who is on the defense team?

Sure hope they are good.

[struggle4progress]

7. Let's see if Trump's DoJ tries to use Project Veritas material at trial

[KelleyKramer]

8. It says in the first sentence that they did

[struggle4progress]

9. Oops! I somehow misread that as referring to a grand jury!

I suspect the defense can have fun with this