[FlyingBrickAnnouncements] Flying Brick resident, Jeremy Hawthorne, faces a Felony Trial, February 1st

[Nathan Stickel]

Jeremy Hawthorne, arrested September 5th, 2011 while on a Copwatch patrol,
is going on trial before a jury for allegedly slashing 7 tires on Virginia
Commonwealth University vehicles, including two police cars. The charge is
Destruction of State Property > $1,000, a Class 6 Felony.

The case is clearly politically motivated; as a part of Richmond Copwatch,
Jeremy is one of several who have been targeted by Richmond police in past
months for their work against police brutality and poor jail conditions in
the city. The notoriously heavy-handed RPD and its officers, ever the
subject of much controversy, have bristled and taken a particularly
antagonistic attitude with activists, protestors, and copwatchers, reacting
in a consistently aggressive, violent, and reckless manner. Accountability,
on the other hand, has been elusive.

The “evidence” used to indict Jeremy is insubstantial, and many details
surrounding testimonies evidence gathering, and the circumstances leading
to Jeremy’s arrest, are questionable at best.

Commonwealth Attorney Christopher Toepp is handling the case per his
personal request, intent on a full conviction. If Chris Toepp (who also
throws trash and meat while yelling insults at "overweight" women) has his
way, Jeremy would face 5 years in prison.

The description of the person depicted in the so-far unreleased
surveillance footage is incredibly mundane: a beard, a hat, tattoos, a
black shirt, a bag, and a step-thru frame bike. In Richmond, this could
easily be thousands of people. The alleged acts occurred on August 23rd,
the Monday proceeding Best Friends Day, meaning hundreds more out-of-town
hipster look-alikes were wild in the streets.

We encourage all those who think they may roughly fit this description to
come to the hearing, inside the courtroom and out, as part of a “beard
bloc.”


Because it is a court building, you won't be allowed to enter with a fake
beard. However, if people want to demonstrate on the steps, that would be
cool!

And they don't alone phones in the court, so.... NO CELL PHONES.

-- 
Always with Solidarity

Nathan
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