bluemasterflows
Junior Member
Some of you may have seen on the news riots at JMU during our Springfest on Saturday. I was one of the students arrested for Virginia law section 18.2-407, which states "you did unlawfully remain at the place of a riot, or unlawful assembly after having been lawfully warned to disperse."
I won't go into the whole thing unless some of you are interested, but it appears to have been orchestrated by JMU and local police to curb some of the partying.
My case is a little different than that.
What happened was:
The riot police showed up in full gear at around 5:30-6:00pm, at which time my friends and I sat down a respectful 15-20 feet in front of them. Despite what you have seen on the news, at this point in time there have been no beer bottles thrown, no tear gas shot, or people maced or beaten. As you can see in this picture of us (http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8027/40544330.jpg) (I am the one with the white backpack with my hands on my head) we were just sitting in front of them.
So, a policeman walks up to us and says "you all have to move back or you'll be arrested". We moved back another 15-20 feet, and the police occupied the place we were standing. Keep in mind there are a few hundred people behind us, who move back as we move back. So we continued to sit for awhile longer, until the police decided to just walk up and arrest all of us sitting there. There is a video of the entire thing on youTube that I'm trying to get my hands on because it was taken down.
After this I was held for 7 hours in the police station without being read any rights, or speaking to anyone. I was denied a breathalyser, and a phone call. Not until 1 am (we were arrested around 6:15) did someone finally come in and tell me why I was arrested, and administer a breathalyser. Not one of us was ever allowed a phone call, or read our rights. We were released at 8 am the next morning. They did not feed us until 5 minutes before our release, not even allowing time to eat it. Additionally (as you could see on the video if I can get it) at the time of arrest (before any rioting started - I cant stress this enough) I was brutally shoved into the ground, and currently have bone bruises from the unnecessarily tight hand cuffs put on.
Did these police have any right to do what they did? Can I fight the charge with the pictures/video I collect? Will it help if i gather witnesses from the crowd? Finally, is there any defense I can use that will get me out of this?
Thank you so much,
Ryan Gallagher
I won't go into the whole thing unless some of you are interested, but it appears to have been orchestrated by JMU and local police to curb some of the partying.
My case is a little different than that.
What happened was:
The riot police showed up in full gear at around 5:30-6:00pm, at which time my friends and I sat down a respectful 15-20 feet in front of them. Despite what you have seen on the news, at this point in time there have been no beer bottles thrown, no tear gas shot, or people maced or beaten. As you can see in this picture of us (http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8027/40544330.jpg) (I am the one with the white backpack with my hands on my head) we were just sitting in front of them.
So, a policeman walks up to us and says "you all have to move back or you'll be arrested". We moved back another 15-20 feet, and the police occupied the place we were standing. Keep in mind there are a few hundred people behind us, who move back as we move back. So we continued to sit for awhile longer, until the police decided to just walk up and arrest all of us sitting there. There is a video of the entire thing on youTube that I'm trying to get my hands on because it was taken down.
After this I was held for 7 hours in the police station without being read any rights, or speaking to anyone. I was denied a breathalyser, and a phone call. Not until 1 am (we were arrested around 6:15) did someone finally come in and tell me why I was arrested, and administer a breathalyser. Not one of us was ever allowed a phone call, or read our rights. We were released at 8 am the next morning. They did not feed us until 5 minutes before our release, not even allowing time to eat it. Additionally (as you could see on the video if I can get it) at the time of arrest (before any rioting started - I cant stress this enough) I was brutally shoved into the ground, and currently have bone bruises from the unnecessarily tight hand cuffs put on.
Did these police have any right to do what they did? Can I fight the charge with the pictures/video I collect? Will it help if i gather witnesses from the crowd? Finally, is there any defense I can use that will get me out of this?
Thank you so much,
Ryan Gallagher
