| ▲ | Prairieland Defendants Sentenced Today to Prison Terms Ranging from 30-100 Years(prairielanddefendants.com) |
| 54 points by panic 12 hours ago | 41 comments |
| |
|
| ▲ | dbingham 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| The National Lawyers Guild released a pretty incredible statement about this trial. They basically were not allowed to mount a defense, in blatant violation of their constitutional rights. > Alarmingly, this mistrial order is just the latest example of attacks on the Prairieland Defendants’ constitutional rights to access to counsel, a fair and impartial jury, an adequate defense, a public trial, and more. Judge Pittman has made highly unusual moves that suppress defense teams and which federal lawyers have not seen during their entire careers: [...] > NLG remains extremely concerned about these cases. Defendants’ First Amendment rights to free expression, assembly, and association; their Sixth Amendment rights to counsel; their Fifth Amendment rights to a public trial; and their Second Amendment rights to bear arms are under attack in North Texas. If unchecked and ignored, this case and the judicial decisions coming from it will set a very dark precedent for the rest of the country. https://www.nlg.org/all-eyes-on-north-texas/ |
|
| ▲ | DivingForGold 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Note that Song was a firearms instructor and a United States Marine Corps Veteran .. I gather the State really wanted to send a message with the 100 year sentence handed down to him. But on another note, he did brandish a rifle and shoot a police officer, anyone could expect the worst for that. I guess they can appeal ? |
|
| ▲ | delichon 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > Eight members of a North Texas Antifa terror cell received historic federal sentences on Tuesday, with prison terms ranging from 30 years to life in prison for their roles in the shooting ambush on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility. https://www.ngocomment.com/p/breaking-exclusive-north-texas-... |
| |
|
| ▲ | Exoristos 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| "Family members and supporters ... called the punishment cruel, callous and starkly disproportionate to the defendants’ actions." The defendants were convicted "on a variety of federal charges, including riot, material support for terrorists, attempted murder, possession and conspiracy to use explosives, and conspiracy to conceal documents." What is a proportionate sentence for convictions like these? In other words, is there a norm when looking at similar convictions? |
| |
| ▲ | NDlurker 11 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | There's a guy in my town who murdered a teenage girl then cut her up and threw her in a dumpster. He's got less time than these people. | | |
| ▲ | Exoristos 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | I'm reading sentencing guidelines for material support of terrorism.[0] It looks like they normally max out at 15 years (20 if in support of certain orgs). I saw somewhere that a study of 261 cases found an average sentence of 13 years. So, ceteris peribus, these do seem extremely high. 0. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R41333 |
| |
| ▲ | queenkjuul 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Well one person got 30 years for "concealing documents" -- they moved a box of anarchist zines from their apartment to their car |
|
|
| ▲ | pm90 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| This is absolutely outrageous. A complete mockery of the criminal justice system and especially of Texas. |
| |
| ▲ | jmye 8 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Hardly seems a mockery of Texas. This is pretty on brand for the kind of state and the kind of people that keep re-electing Paxton. | |
| ▲ | happa 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | The other side said the same thing when the J6 rioters were sentenced. Likewise, these people will also get pardoned in a couple of years, so it's mostly symbolic. | | |
|
|
| ▲ | MisterMower 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I guess these guys think attempted murder and possession of explosives is “common protest activity”? |
| |
| ▲ | TrackerFF 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Fireworks and flares are pretty common, yeah. But then again, when you've been designated as "terrorists" due to protesting against ICE, fireworks turn into explosives, and suddenly there's no difference between bottle rockets and a IED. No one is arguing that the guy that shot the guard shouldn't face harder punishments, even though he argued that he was shooting in self-defense of the other members. Charging and sentencing those other protesters for plotting to kill someone is ridiculous. | |
| ▲ | breakyerself 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | What about moving a box of zines? | | |
| ▲ | MisterMower 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | Estrada was convicted of "intending to conceal the box’s contents and impair its availability for use in a federal grand jury and federal criminal proceeding," not for just moving a box of zines. [1] Tampering with evidence is a serious crime. I suppose you think that Trump's mishandling of classified information was just "moving a box of documents", too? 1. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antifa-cell-members-convicted... | | |
| ▲ | tastyface 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | What was Trump's punishment? | | |
| ▲ | MisterMower 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | He was charged with 37 felony counts, the most serious of which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years. Had he been convicted he would have surely gone to prison for far longer than Estrada. [1] Both the crimes Trump was charged with and Estrada was convicted of are very serious. But to some people, the severity of the penalties are only an issue when the politics of the person charged with them aligns with their own. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_prosecution_of_Donald_... |
|
|
|
|
|
| ▲ | NDlurker 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Concealing a document? Conspiracy to conceal a document? What? I need to Google that. Sounds un-constitutional af! |
| |
| ▲ | tbrownaw 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Hiding evidence tends to be bad, even when that evidence wouldn't itself be a problem without a crime for it to be evidence of. | | | |
| ▲ | queenkjuul 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Moved a box of zines to their car | | |
| ▲ | pseudo0 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | In the context of trying to hide the evidence after a member of their anarchist collective shot a law enforcement officer in the neck... | | |
| ▲ | queenkjuul 3 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | How are zines evidence, and you genuinely think they deserve 30 years for that? For knowing someone who shot a cop? | |
| ▲ | tastyface 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Accessory to assault on a police officer? What luck! That happens to be exactly the crime our beloved president pardoned a bunch of people for recently. |
|
| |
| ▲ | tiahura 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | [dead] |
|
|
| ▲ | tiahura 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| [flagged] |
| |
| ▲ | tastyface 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | You agree with essentially a life sentence for moving pamphlets around? What a vomit-inducing thing to believe. | | |
| ▲ | MisterMower 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | The truth matters. You can argue the sentence Estrada received was too harsh, and I personally agree, but claiming he was just "moving pamphlets around" is a gross misrepresentation of what he was actually convicted of doing. He was convicted by a jury of his peers for "intending to conceal the box’s contents and impair its availability for use in a federal grand jury and federal criminal proceeding." [1] 1. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antifa-cell-members-convicted... | |
| ▲ | tiahura 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | A jury of their peers found them to be antifa terrorists. And yes, hiding evidence from an official proceeding is a crime in every jx. | | |
| ▲ | jmye 8 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > You agree with essentially a life sentence for moving pamphlets around? That was the question you were asked. It was a short comment with very few big words. Why are you talking about whether it’s a crime? Why the rank dishonesty? Is it too hard a question for you to figure out how to answer? | |
| ▲ | tastyface 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Sigh. We'll need to deMAGAfy a whole lot of people someday. | | |
| ▲ | what 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | Are you suggesting reeducation camps or something? You sound unhinged. | | |
|
|
|
|
|
| ▲ | tbrownaw 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| Headline: "for Common Protest Activity" Body: "material support for terrorists, attempted murder, possession and conspiracy to use explosives" Um? |
| |
| ▲ | queenkjuul 3 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Did you read what they actually did or did you just read the charges? | |
| ▲ | Brian_K_White 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Um what? The activity in the body aligns with the title. Even the part that sounds the worst if you take it out of context, was not a murder or even failed attempted murder, but the successful prevention of a murder. | | |
| ▲ | MisterMower 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | The activity in the body does not align with the title. Even putting aside whether such activities are justified in this case or acceptable in general, people do not commonly attempt murder or posses explosives at protests. | | |
| ▲ | alexgieg 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | What the sentencing calls attempted murder, the defendants are describing as one of the protesters watching a police officer preparing to shoot another protester who was running away on their back, and thus shooting in the direction of the would-be cold blood murderer to prevent the assassination attempt. If this description is correct (a big if, but it seems the judge didn't care for examining the evidence), then it's something that wouldn't have happened at all weren't for actions of the officer himself. As for explosives, the defendants say it was fireworks. Carrying fireworks at protests is common. |
|
|
|
