Nearly a year ago, former city council president Ben Stuckart posted on Facebook, asking people to come to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building and sit in front of the bus that was scheduled to take detained immigrants from Spokane to Tacoma — including a young Venezuelan man who had been under his care.
Hundreds of Spokanites responded, and later, nine were arrested on federal felony charges, accusing them of committing a conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers or their property using force, threat or intimidation. While six of those originally indicted accepted plea deals to avoid the chance of federal prison time, Jac Archer, Justice Forral and Bajun Mavalwalla II chose to fight the charges.
On Thursday afternoon, after seven days of trial, more than two dozen witnesses and eight hours of deliberation, a jury of 12 people determined all three defendants were guilty of "Conspiracy to Impede or Injure Officers." However, the jury did not believe all of them were guilty of the same roles.
To be convicted of the conspiracy charge, the jury had to agree on at least one finding of five to support the verdict. For example, they could believe a defendant conspired to prevent an officer from doing their job but didn't injure them.
- Archer was found guilty of conspiring to prevent an officer from doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer to impede them in their duty and aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure officers.
- Forral was found guilty of conspiring to prevent an officer from doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer because they were doing their duty, conspiring to injure the property of an officer in order to impede them in their duty and aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure officers.
- Mavalwalla was found guilty only of aiding and abetting another to conspire to impede or injure and officer.
None of the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to injure any officer.
The overall charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in federal prison and/or $250,000 in fines. It’s unclear so far how the jury's findings will impact that.
The attorneys for the defense have said they plan to appeal the verdict, but before that they will ask the judge to overturn it in a Rule 29 hearing in five weeks.
The ACLU of Washington issued a statement on the impact of the decision, saying it's not over.
“We remain concerned about the chilling effect that the Department of Justice’s charging decisions will have on protest and free expression in this country," Legal Director La Rond Baker said. "The Administration has a demonstrable history of using the Department of Justice to silence and punish its critics. Using the power of government to deter criticism is undemocratic and counter to the values of our state and the country.”
The verdict has sent shockwaves through the community. The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane hosted a community gathering Thursday afternoon with supporters of the defendants at A.M. Cannon Park to process the news in community.
Forral spoke to the gathered crowd under the shade of the trees and posed an important question: “What’s more powerful, truth or persuasion?”
They asked people to talk about it amongst themselves.
After some time, Forral said Greek philosophers (specifically Sophists) would say that it’s human beings who create and dictate morality and so they arrive at the conclusion that persuasion is more powerful. But Socrates argues that truth is more powerful.
They too said that the truth held more power.
“As much as you want to lie, the truth is a rock," Forral said. "You can't break the truth. You can break it up, maybe. But in the end, when it's there and it's visible, the truth will always come out.”
Before parting they said:
“I love you all very much. I know I've seen each and every one of you countless times,” they said. “I'm delighted to talk for the first time in almost a year, and I'm glad you listened to me.”
Mayor Lisa Brown expressed her dismay at the verdict in a statement:
“Since the federal charges were filed, I have maintained this prosecution was politically motivated. It was meant to make an example out of people who disagreed with federal immigration policy. The right to peacefully protest and criticize the government is a cornerstone of our democracy," she said. “We cannot allow these verdicts to silence us.”
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and we will update it as we get more information.
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