Posted on 07/16/2020 5:34:41 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The federal government says it was arson. The protester charged with igniting a Molotov cocktail outside the District of Columbia police station during the recent race riots says it is protected First Amendment speech.
Jarrett Jeremy Pace, on the night he set the fire, had said on Facebook he wanted to “burn a 12 station to the ground!” The number “12” is street slang for police.
But now, Mr. Pace argues in federal district court he was speaking metaphorically, that he actually tossed the firebomb on the street near the Fourth District police station rather than at it, and that his action was not meant to burn the station but rather to express solidarity with George Floyd and protesters in Minneapolis.
“Ranging from inappropriate to deplorable, fire has historically been used as an expression of speech,” Eugene Ohm, Mr. Pace’s lawyer at the federal public defender’s office, wrote in briefs asking for his release.
Arson cases are mounting daily as Justice Department prosecutors, under the urging of President Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr, scour the last seven weeks’ protests, looking for cases to make into federal crimes.
On Wednesday alone, prosecutors announced charges against six men in New York, all accused of igniting fires aimed at government property in Rochester and Buffalo. Prosecutors in Seattle announced arson charges against a man they say set a fire outside a city police precinct there.
Mr. Pace was initially charged in superior court in the District but had the case sent to federal district court days later.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The only way that defense would work is if the cocktail was filled with a non-flammable liquid.
Shooting a man with a fire bomb in his hand is protected by the 2nd Amendment. :)
Where does Jarrett Jeremy Pace live? Asking for several friends.
This guy is not an outlier. This thought process is solid Del.
It must be in there right next to the right to privacy.
How appropriate for a member of the resistance to have a lawyer named Ohm.
“How appropriate for a member of the resistance to have a lawyer named Ohm.”
I saw what you did there! ;-)
Shoot the bottle with a .22 while he’s still holding it.
:)
I shot the bottle
but I did not shoot the pro-test-er!
Some Lawyer is getting paid well to represent this scumbag. His name should be out there for the deserved ridicule. Public Defender, so be it. Private Soros Lawyer HAVE AT HIM!
12gauge, bird shot, Molotov in a cocked hand, do the math.
Oh well, if he wins his case, I guess we are all cleared hot to start throwing them too. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.
And shooting an active arsonist in the commission of a forceable felony is protected by the second amendment.
The punk loses, DRT
Probably at least three or four SC justices would agree with him.
Well Scalia set the stage for that argument when he said burning our flag was speech. Don’t know if burning a gay flag is protected or not, but it probably will be determined a hate crime.
......... Hey ...... Don't forget about being in possession of a deadly weapon .... It is an actual “incendiary device” meant to do harm ...... and as such it would indeed be illegal under federal law to manufacture or possess one.
If that is true, then my shooting them in the face is ALSO protected. By both the 1st and 2nd Amendments.
Past due time to stop playing nice with these a-holes.
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