San Francisco Blog

An estimated 28 of the more than 100 demonstrators arrested during the January protests of Oscar Grant's shooting death at the hands of BART police showed up at the Alameda County Courthouse at 9 a.m. for misdemeanor arraignments -- only to discover the District Attorney opted to not charge them.

The Oakland 100 Support Committee, an organization founded after the arrests, staked out the front of the courthouse to demand all charges be dropped and connect previously arrested protesters with legal resources.

John Viola, a volunteer attorney with the National Lawyers' Guild -- which is providing counsel for many of the protesters -- announced that charges have not been filed for all but three misdemeanor and three felony cases for protests to date. Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff has up to a year to charge the misdemeanor cases. Another batch of arraignments are scheduled for Monday.  

Geoffrey Hutchings of Kensington was one of the demonstrators who learned he wouldn't face any charges -- yet. He said he wasn't even part of the protest on Jan. 7: Having discovered the 12th Street BART station was closed, he was walking down Broadway to the next station and was then was caught up in the mass arrests. "I just want to get my phone back," he said. Viola advised all the protesters who had cameras or other electronic recording devices confiscated by the police during the protests to not consent to having them searched.  


The DA is proceeding with felony charges against Andrew Lewis of Oakland (above right) for vandalism, and journalist JR Valrey -- who works for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper and Berkeley's KPFA radio -- for arson. According to indymedia.org, Valrey was interviewing protesters and taking photographs at the Jan. 7 demonstration when he was arrested. He declined to comment this morning.

As the police continue to arrest protesters at ongoing demonstrations, it seems the bureaucratic rigmarole will only continue. The next protest is today, starting with a rally at 3 p.m. in Ogawa Plaza in Oakland at 14th and Broadway, followed by a "March of Stolen Lives" at 4 p.m.