March 14, 2024
"Tara McGovern, a transgender musician who was arrested last fall after protesting a speaker on the University of Iowa campus, was acquitted Wednesday..."
"... of charges that they contended went to the heart of the constitutional right to assemble.... University police claimed the protesters were 'chanting and constantly trying to walk in the street in front of the vehicles … preventing them from driving away,' as a detective wrote in his report.... McGovern, 45, insisted they didn’t break the law during the demonstration against Chloe Cole, the speaker who once identified as transgender and now opposes gender-affirming care for minors.... The charges filed against McGovern included interference with official acts and disorderly conduct obstructing streets, the more serious of the two misdemeanors...."
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26 comments:
Keep arresting.
Homosexuality is verging on becoming a religion. The stonewall era queers are the Dominicans/Franciscans, homo-adjacent women and lesbians are the nuns, and transexuals are the Jesuits.
So of course transexuals are going to go after an apostate the way the inquisition went after Giordano Bruno. Witches that were once warlocks and are now Calvinists are heretics and must be burnt at the stake. Rome and its pointy-hat guy, David Brock, demand it.
Try that in a small town...
It should be legal to walk in the street. And it should be legal to drive in the street. Let 'er buck, Chuck.
It's Iowa, where the Constitution is observed and cherished.
If the protestors had been anti-trans conservatives protesting a speech given by the eunuch calling himself Rachel Levine in Washington, they'd be charged with insurrection.
Does this mean that Hamas in America can continue to block the streets by airports and on bridges?
That must stop!
"The charges filed against McGovern included interference with official acts and disorderly conduct obstructing streets, the more serious of the two misdemeanors...."
Was McGovern acquitted, or did the prosecution decline to proceed? If acquitted, on what basis?
This, from
Iowa Public Radio, is likewise unclear:
"The University of Iowa City Police Department charged seven people in connection with the event. Most were charged with disorderly conduct for obstructing the street, a serious misdemeanor, and with interfering with police’s actions, a simple misdemeanor. Six people took a plea deal from the Johnson County Attorney. McGovern was the only person who took the charges to trial.
While McGovern’s charges were relatively minor, the charge for obstructing the street gained attention as it was part of a recent change in Iowa law that increased the penalties for protest related charges.
Moments after learning about their victory, McGovern said their attention turns to the future.
“But there certainly are possible things that could unfold as we move forward in terms of looking into why this could have happened and if there is a way we can prevent this from happening again,” McGovern said."
This report makes it a bit clearer, though it's still uncertain as to whether McGovern was involved in blocking traffic. If "they" was not observed doing so by police, the acquittal makes more sense, but if other evidence of guilt existed and was not obtained in the officers' investigation, too bad for the officers.
I'm all for a change of venue for all J6 protesters. This seems like an excellent court for their trials.
Doesn't YOUR Right to assemble stop at the front of MY car??
Not in the People's Republic of Johnson County.
Not if you're protesting the correct things.
If a bunch of MAGA folk from Cedar Rapids had come down, and blocked traffic.. what then??
Had they been conservatives protesting something, you can be sure the judges would have come down hard on them.
Jury or bench trial? Makes a difference.
A classical musician plays or composes classical music; a folk musician plays or composes folk music; so a transgender musician plays or composes transgender music? I was just starting to catch on to pronouns and now I need to start interpreting adjectives.
Looks like it was a weak case that shouldn't have been charged.
All these "theys" and "thems."
I have no clue as to how many people were involved.
Did they say they didn't actually do it (block vehicles and the like) or that they did do it but that it was not a violation of the law?
"Tara McGovern, a transgender musician "
I'm guessing that her music sucks. So, she has to promote her gender confusion. I wonder which one sells better.
According to the Daily Iowan (link in my last comment), it was a jury trial:
"A jury moved Wednesday to drop the charges against protester Tara McGovern after hearing from University of Iowa police officers and reviewing body and street camera evidence for two days in a packed courtroom.
The jury acquitted McGovern on two misdemeanor charges relating to a protest outside the Iowa Memorial Union in October. The verdict was closed, so the decision was not made in open court."
IANAL but how does a jury make a motion?
Queastor,
Is Rachael Levine a eunuch?
I thought he still had his meat and 2 veg.
I could be wrong. Anyone know?
And if anyone thinks it uncouth of me to ask, please explain why.
John Henry
Blogger Dave Begley said...
"Does this mean that Hamas in America can continue to block the streets by airports and on bridges?"
Dave, my fear is that Hamas will block traffic on the Interstate causing it to back up a few miles and then go from car to car with pistols.
If you insist on using plural pronoun for yourself ("they" "their") can you be charged with "assembling" if you act alone?
We're all of them acquitted? Or just "they?"
I went to graduate school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, and then I attended and graduated from the University of Iowa Law School. I ended up being a Republican elected criminal prosecutor. This town and college is as bad as Madison. I have heard defense attorneys laugh and joke about how easy it is to get criminal defendants acquitted here. So take that for what is is worth.
Blockading traffic is a serious offence.
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