Demonstrators arrested in July at a “Free Our Future” protest in downtown San Diego are still facing criminal charges, the City Attorney’s office confirmed Monday.
“We are reviewing the cases,” said City Attorney spokesman Gerry Braun.
San Diego police arrested 10 demonstrators on July 2, mainly for draping a banner from the side of the Westin hotel. The banner read “Free Our Families Now.”
The protesters were speaking out against President Donald Trump and his administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policies.
Other demonstrators also temporarily locked arms and blocked the entrance of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building on Broadway. The demonstrators who locked arms in front of the federal building eventually moved before they were arrested.
“These are places where we have seen the criminalization of our community,” said Mara Mora, about why the group chose the federal building to protest.
The group began at Chicano Park where hundreds gathered before marching downtown calling for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fully respects the rights of all people to voice their opinion peacefully without interference,” a spokeswoman for ICE responded.
Once the crowd reached downtown, several protesters hung the sign from the Westin building while the crowd cheered. Some were arrested on suspicion of felony trespassing, conspiracy and misdemeanor obstruction, according to San Diego police.
Police later learned the group rented rooms in the Westin and rappelled down from the windows to display the sign. Another group held hotel doors shut preventing police from gaining access to the group until the sign was displayed.
Mijente, one of the organizers of the event, called the charges against the protesters “extreme and retaliatory.” Their director Marisa Franco released the following statement in response to the charges, which they say include felony burglary.
“The attacks our communities are facing from the Trump administration require that we fight back in every way, sometimes putting our bodies on the line for what we believe is right.”
Franco continued: “The charges against them are extreme and cannot be read as anything other than an attempt to discourage protest. We call for the charges to be dropped against all the protestors, who were exercising their right to speak out against the atrocities committed by the Trump administration and Jeff Sessions.”
The spokesman for the City Attorney did not respond to further questions.
Mijente organized a legal fund to help with the defense of those arrested, which can be found here:
NBC 7 obtained the names of the defendants: Ethan Buckner, Katherine Wines, Brianna Gibson, Avery Sinclair, Brittany Baker, Kevin Pang, Jaque Fragua, Nora Leccese, Roberta Capobianco and Nora Rasman.
