A judge in California dismissed charges against two far-right agitators, citing “selective prosecution” by the federal government for charging right-wing rioters but not left-wing agitators who engaged in similar violent behavior.
The judge criticized the government for targeting only right-wing participants while ignoring violent conduct from left-wing groups like Antifa.
Judge Cormac J. Carney of the US District Court for the Central District of California wrote, “Antifa and related far-left groups decided they needed to ‘shut this down.’ … They came prepared for violence, bringing weapons including pepper spray, fireworks, knives, and homemade bombs.”
“And they used those weapons, as well as their bodies, against Trump supporters and law enforcement,” he continued.
Judge Carney wrote, “No individuals associated with the left, who engaged in anti-far-right speech and violently suppressed the protected speech of Trump supporters, were charged with a federal crime for their part in starting riots at political events. That is textbook viewpoint discrimination.”
The judge highlighted evidence showing left-wing protesters initiating violence at a pro-Trump rally, leading to the charges being dropped under the Anti-Riot Act. T
He explained, “Most telling in this case is the government’s silence as to why it never pursued a case against a single member of Antifa or related far-left groups with respect to their violent conduct at pro-Trump events.”
The judge wrote, “Defendants have established selective prosecution. There is no doubt that the government did not prosecute similarly situated individuals. Antifa and related far-left groups attended the same Trump rallies as Defendants with the expressly stated intent of shutting down, through violence if necessary, protected political speech. At the same Trump rallies that form the basis for Defendants’ prosecution, members of Antifa and related far-left groups engaged in organized violence to stifle protected speech.”
“Of the 20 people arrested at the April 2017 Berkeley rally, the government charged only Defendants and other members of RAM under the Anti-Riot Act. The government charged no members of Antifa, BAMN, or other far-left groups under the Anti-Riot Act for their use of violence to shut down the rally,” he continued.
“To put it simply, RAM and Antifa, which both appear to use violence to silence protected speech, are identical in material respects—the only difference is their speech and beliefs,” he added.
“By many accounts, members of Antifa and related far-left groups engaged in worse conduct and in fact instigated much of the violence that broke out at these otherwise constitutionally protected rallies to silence the protected speech of the supporters of President Trump. That is constitutionally impermissible. The government cannot prosecute RAM members such as Defendants while ignoring the violence of members of Antifa and related far-left groups because RAM engaged in what the government and many believe is more offensive speech.”
The judge’s order included photos of Antifa engaging in violence at the same event.
Judge Carney concluded, “One man punched a Trump supporter, threw him onto a park bench to continue the beating, and was in the process of striking him until law enforcement intervened… A young woman used pepper spray and hit Trump supporters, explaining that she felt ‘like fighting a white [expletive] today.’ Police detained one Antifa member who had an improvised explosive device.”
Despite being released, one of the defendants was arrested again following an emergency appeal by prosecutors.
