Today, 38 of us gathered at 100 Centre Street for Noche Diaz' trial on two arrests in which he was observing police arrest others, and got arrested and charged with some serious misdemeanors himself. We all knew these charges, three counts of Obstructing Government Administration, one each of Resisting Arrest and Disorderly Conduct, which could have meant 2 years at Rikers, were piled on by NYPD because of Noche's well-known role in Harlem with the Peoples' Neighborhood Patrol, and as a freedom fighter who didn't walk on by when people were being abused by NYPD, but told them their rights.
Noche and his attorney, Gideon Oliver of the National Lawyers Guild, were prepared to for the trial with video, photos, witnesses, and with the truth that Noche didn't commit any crime in either case. 1700 people, including a lot of well-known people in NYC, signed on, calling on District Attorney Cyrus Vance to drop the charges on Noche.
We were prepared, in choosing the jury, to reference the political climate in NYC since Noche's first arrest in October, 2011, when we did the first wave of civil disobedience protest against NYPD's stop-and-frisk, and the lawsuit Floyd v City of New York, now in a fifth week of exposing the abuse stop and frisk means for hundreds of thousands.
Apparently the DA's enthusiasm for trying Noche got reduced by some or all of this. The same Assistant D.A. who has tried many OWS cases, and who got 20 of us convicted of Disorderly Conduct last May for the October 2011 protest, approached Gideon Oliver with a vastly different deal than he had been proposing for the last year. Instead of Noche pleading guilty to two crimes, and getting 30 days in jail, which was not acceptable, the state would drop all criminal charges, seek no jail time or fine, if Noche pled guilty to a violation. This is what happened in court today, after Noche gave an excellent statement to the judge.
We care celebrating! After 18 months, no crime, no time, no fine. The most remarkable thing about the time in court was that a packed courtroom -- probably 80 people in addition to our crowd -- heard a young revolutionary describe an "average day in Harlem" in terms most deeply felt to be their experience, win a victory, and walk out to applause. One person who really lost it then, Judge McGrath, who almost jumped over the bench, screaming, "SHUT UP! This is a courtroom,
not a playground. GET OUT! CLEAR THE COURT!" A young man grabbed one of us, and said, with pride, "you all are NO JOKE!" (another version is that he said "you mf's are serious!") and others came out to shake Noche's hand, and say they had seen him on Channel 12 this morning. Cornel West texted, "Give my love to brother Noche on the occassion of this victory."
Most strongly, people in line and walking by, stopped to find out what was extraordinary about Noche: a young person who doesn't walk on by when someone is stopped by the police, but lets them know they have rights, and that there is a whole different way the world could be. We met many friends today, and saw people holding heads a little higher, because people do not have to be beat down like they are. Thanks to friends from the Lower East Side, the Revolution Club, and many on this list who came out today, who circulated the statement for Noche, and signed it.
NEXT UP: Noche still has charges in 3 boroughs: Disorderly Conduct in the Jeffeth James beating by NYPD in The Bronx; Disorderly Conduct with 6 others in Brooklyn from the November 1, 2011 protest of Stop-and-Frisk, and with 8 others in Queens where charges are still 2 counts of OGA. This wave of protest isn't over until all the charges are gone. And:
Court hearing for people arrested in March when Kimani Gray was killed in Brooklyn,
Thursday April 25 at 120 Schermerhorn Street, 9:30 am
Monday April 29, 7:00 pm Next Stop Mass Incarceration Network Meeting. Riverside Church
120th & Claremont. Agenda will be discussion of Carl Dix' proposal for action to support the
July California prison hunger strike.
Next freedom-fighter trial: Monday May 20, Queens Criminal Court for Greg Allen, Noche Diaz,
Ribka Getachew and Matt Swaye.
Noche and his attorney, Gideon Oliver of the National Lawyers Guild, were prepared to for the trial with video, photos, witnesses, and with the truth that Noche didn't commit any crime in either case. 1700 people, including a lot of well-known people in NYC, signed on, calling on District Attorney Cyrus Vance to drop the charges on Noche.
We were prepared, in choosing the jury, to reference the political climate in NYC since Noche's first arrest in October, 2011, when we did the first wave of civil disobedience protest against NYPD's stop-and-frisk, and the lawsuit Floyd v City of New York, now in a fifth week of exposing the abuse stop and frisk means for hundreds of thousands.
Apparently the DA's enthusiasm for trying Noche got reduced by some or all of this. The same Assistant D.A. who has tried many OWS cases, and who got 20 of us convicted of Disorderly Conduct last May for the October 2011 protest, approached Gideon Oliver with a vastly different deal than he had been proposing for the last year. Instead of Noche pleading guilty to two crimes, and getting 30 days in jail, which was not acceptable, the state would drop all criminal charges, seek no jail time or fine, if Noche pled guilty to a violation. This is what happened in court today, after Noche gave an excellent statement to the judge.
We care celebrating! After 18 months, no crime, no time, no fine. The most remarkable thing about the time in court was that a packed courtroom -- probably 80 people in addition to our crowd -- heard a young revolutionary describe an "average day in Harlem" in terms most deeply felt to be their experience, win a victory, and walk out to applause. One person who really lost it then, Judge McGrath, who almost jumped over the bench, screaming, "SHUT UP! This is a courtroom,
not a playground. GET OUT! CLEAR THE COURT!" A young man grabbed one of us, and said, with pride, "you all are NO JOKE!" (another version is that he said "you mf's are serious!") and others came out to shake Noche's hand, and say they had seen him on Channel 12 this morning. Cornel West texted, "Give my love to brother Noche on the occassion of this victory."
Most strongly, people in line and walking by, stopped to find out what was extraordinary about Noche: a young person who doesn't walk on by when someone is stopped by the police, but lets them know they have rights, and that there is a whole different way the world could be. We met many friends today, and saw people holding heads a little higher, because people do not have to be beat down like they are. Thanks to friends from the Lower East Side, the Revolution Club, and many on this list who came out today, who circulated the statement for Noche, and signed it.
NEXT UP: Noche still has charges in 3 boroughs: Disorderly Conduct in the Jeffeth James beating by NYPD in The Bronx; Disorderly Conduct with 6 others in Brooklyn from the November 1, 2011 protest of Stop-and-Frisk, and with 8 others in Queens where charges are still 2 counts of OGA. This wave of protest isn't over until all the charges are gone. And:
Court hearing for people arrested in March when Kimani Gray was killed in Brooklyn,
Thursday April 25 at 120 Schermerhorn Street, 9:30 am
Monday April 29, 7:00 pm Next Stop Mass Incarceration Network Meeting. Riverside Church
120th & Claremont. Agenda will be discussion of Carl Dix' proposal for action to support the
July California prison hunger strike.
Next freedom-fighter trial: Monday May 20, Queens Criminal Court for Greg Allen, Noche Diaz,
Ribka Getachew and Matt Swaye.
RSS Feed